Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Türkiye's border crossings with Syria remain open for humanitarian aid from the United Nations to several northern Syrian regions that were devastated by an earthquake last Monday.
Speaking to reporters in the southern province of Hatay, which borders Syria, Çavuşoğlu said the crossings have always been open for humanitarian assistance.
The U.N. denounced on Sunday a failure to get desperately needed aid to war-torn regions of Syria while warning that the death toll of nearly 30,000 from the earthquake that also devastated Türkiye could at least double. A U.N. convoy with supplies for northwest Syria arrived via Türkiye; the agency's relief chief Martin Griffiths said much more was needed for millions whose homes were destroyed. "We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn't arrived," Griffiths said on Twitter. "I must correct this failure as fast as we can."
Aid has been slow to arrive in Syria, where years of conflict have ravaged the health care system. Parts of the country remain under the control of opposition forces battling the Assad regime, which is under Western sanctions. According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent, the U.N. convoy of 10 trucks crossed into northwest Syria via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, carrying shelter kits including plastic sheeting, ropes and screws, nails, blankets, mattresses and carpets. Tens of thousands of rescue workers continued to scour flattened neighborhoods in freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions now in desperate need of aid. Damascus said it had approved the delivery of humanitarian assistance to quake-hit areas outside its control in Idlib province, and a convoy was expected to leave on Sunday. However, the delivery was later postponed without explanation. The transport ministry said 62 aid planes had landed in Syria this week, with more on the way in the coming days, particularly from Saudi Arabia.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the Security Council to authorize the opening of new cross-border aid points between Türkiye and Syria, with a meeting to discuss possible Syria in the coming days.
Çavuşoğlu said the international community had been sending aid to Syria earlier for victims of the civil war, and they were now sending aid to earthquake-hit areas. "It is our humanitarian duty to support aid to Syria, to ensure their delivery," he told reporters. He said some countries also preferred to send aid by air to Syria, and they opened Turkish airspace for them. He pointed out a U.N. decision to open the Bab al-Hawa border crossing for humanitarian aid. Still, he noted that the Syrian side of the intersection was devastated mainly due to the earthquake. "We have two border crossings in Kilis (province), which are primarily used for transportation to areas liberated from terrorists (with the support of Turkish security forces). We told the U.N. that these two crossings could be opened as well, and they are now weighing it," he said. The minister also dismissed rumors that Türkiye would open crossings for Syrians heading to Türkiye and emphasized that the corners would be open only "one way," for aid delivery into Syria.
On social media, rumors that the United States would dispatch an aircraft carrier to Türkiye for aid delivery, Çavuşoğlu said was not valid. Words fuelled criticism against the United States as critics slammed the move over "security concerns." "The U.S. did not ask us for such a delivery, and we will not allow it even if they ask. We don't need it," Çavuşoğlu said. He said several countries, including Greece, offered to send cruise ships used in tourism to the region to house the earthquake victims. "We don't oppose such a proposal, but we don't need a U.S. warship," he said.
Çavuşoğlu also spoke about Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. He met hours earlier in Hatay. Dendias' visit was rare but emotional for Türkiye as the two neighbors are often at odds but found common ground in solidarity against disasters. Çavuşoğlu praised the solidarity between the two countries, adding: "We have longstanding, unresolved issues, and occasionally, tensions rise, while at other times, the dialogue emerges. Of course, countries can have problems and differences between them, but in such disasters, we have always been two countries rushing to the aid of each other."
