‘Syrian Spillover’ Documentary Screening

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Launching of the documentary entitled 'Syrian Spillover', which is about the Syrian refugees in Turkey and filmed to draw the attention to the humanitarian tragedy of the Syrian crisis with the support of ORSAM, European Commission, AFAD, Young Friends of Turkey, Sweedish Embassy and Heinrich Böll Foundation Turkey Representation, took place at the European Parliament on 12 January 2016.  An AFAD refugee tent was set up in the venue for documentary screening at the European Parliament and the drawings by the Syrian kids were displayed there.

İlhan Kyuchyuk, the Member of European Parliament, during his speech before the screening of the documentary, underlined that Europe was late in its response to the humanitarian tragedy originating from the Syrian crisis and thus the situation has increasingly become critical. Veronica Sabbag Afota, the European External Action Service RepAresentative, summarized the EU policies towards the Syrian refugees since the onset of the crisis and stressed the importance of the documentary. Then, Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, EU Representative of Young Friends of Turkey and the producer of the documentary conveyed his experiences in Turkey during the documentary shooting and answered the questions of the participants. The need to appreciate Turkey's stance during the Syrian crisis and Turkey's undertaking the bulk of the responsibility by herself was also mentioned during the speeches. 

Documentary screening attracted great attention. Around 700 European Parliament personnel, NGO representatives and experts applied to attend the screening, but due to the spatial limitations, 150 participants were able to attend the activity. Therefore, another special screening activity was organized for 14 January 2016 at a movie theatre in Brussels. At the end of the screening, Vesterbye, the producer of the documentary, conveyed his special thanks to ORSAM for its support and cooperation.