Efforts to provide aid to east Aleppo continue as rebels and civilians evacuate from the area. The UN Security Council says the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria will continue for one more year. Humanitarian groups from Turkey have been sending truck-loads of aid, while the Turkish government says it will continue supporting refugees.
For the past few days, trucks have been lining up at the Turkish- Syrian border town of Reyhanli, carrying food, clothes and humanitarian aid for Syrians being evacuated from eastern Aleppo.
On Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Minister stated over 37,000 people had been evacuated and the goal was to have remaining evacuations completed by Wednesday. Civilian evacuation efforts have been off and on again due to disagreements between rebels and the Syrian government.
Turkish aid organizations working out of Aleppo emphasize that while waiting for the evacuation process to begin - children especially have been strongly affected by harsh weather conditions.
"We are seeing that the children have been freezing, we are handing out clothes to them so that they can keep warm, they've been without anything to eat out in the cold, we are providing them with food and emergency first aid," said Orhan Sefik, board member, IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.
Meanwhile, some Syrians rescued from Aleppo have also been brought to Turkey. Among them is Bana Alabed - the Syrian child who received global attention as she tweeted updates from inside Aleppo during attacks. She met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his palace in Ankara.
Turkish state news agency Anadolu reports that nearly 200 Aleppo evacuees, including children are receiving treatment at Turkish hospitals.
Earlier in the day, President Erdogan had emphasized Turkey would not change its open- door policy to Syrians.
"We are evacuating these innocent victims out of Aleppo. If necessary we will bring them to our country. Right now, we are hosting 2.7 million - if needed we will take 3 million. We will always support the oppressed," he said.
The evacuation is expected to be completed soon - with United Nations observers monitoring the process. Hundreds have reached Idlib on Tuesday but it is still not clear how many civilians or rebels are still trapped within eastern Aleppo.
