World Bulletin/News Desk

Pictures of missing children will cover plastic bags in Turkish supermarkets as of Monday as part of a campaign that aims to help find them and to raise awareness on the issue, announced the head of family support association.

The Association for the Families with Lost Kin (YAKAD) and Onur Market, a supermarket chain, have prepared 3 million plastic bags, each bearing pictures of five different children as well as 10 messages warning parents to be careful and to remain vigilant.   

The bags, available for a month, will be delivered to 76 grocery stores in Istanbul and in three other provinces in western Turkey. 

The head of the association, Ismet Ozbilici, on Tuesday told reporters at a supermarket in Istanbul for the launch of the campaign that, out of 4,500 people reported lost to the organization, 500 had been found thanks to their efforts.

Almost 18,000 people remain missing in Turkey, more than a third of them children, according to media reports based on Interior Ministry data. 

The Association for the Families with Lost Kin was created in 1992, aiming to assist families searching for their missing loved ones.