Turkey is trying to get a green light from Russia to use new border crossings for delivering aid to earthquake survivors in northwest Syria, officials with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
(Bloomberg) —
Turkey is trying to get a green light from Russia to use new border crossings for delivering aid to earthquake survivors in northwest Syria, officials with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
Ankara is in talks with Moscow to allow a flow of international supplies through Turkish border crossings Oncupinar and Cobanbey in Kilis province, in addition to an existing one further west, the officials said, asking not to be identified as the negotiations are ongoing.
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Two massive quakes on Monday killed more than 22,000 people in the two countries. While the Turkish government is overwhelmed by the extent of the damage, another humanitarian tragedy is also unfolding in northwestern Syria due to a lack of substantial foreign aid.
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The first convoy of humanitarian aid provided by the United Nations was only able to cross into Syria from Turkey’s Cilvegozu border post on Thursday, but the shipment is small relative to the scale of devastation there. Hospitals run by Syrian American Medical Society in the area have little left to treat the overwhelming number of spine injuries and bone fractures coming in.
While Russia supported a UN resolution to extend the use of Cilvegozu — or Bab al-Hawa — border crossing as the sole point of entry for international aid shipments into Syria, it was known to be opposed to the opening of new border points over concerns of more aid flow to rebel-held territory.
But there are signs Moscow might be ready to adjust its stance during this humanitarian crisis as long as it allows the ongoing détente between Turkey and Syria.
“If Turkey says it’s necessary, Russia won’t be against this, providing it’s agreed with Damascus,” Elena Suponina, a Moscow-based Middle East analyst, said. “Russia this year has softened its stance toward the UN mandate for single aid crossing into Syria.”
Turkey and Russia are on opposing sides in northern Syria, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened in November to start a long-suspended offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces in the area that Ankara regards as controlled by terrorists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who intervened in Syria in 2015 to back President Bashar al Assad in the country’s conflict, wants the government in Damascus to reclaim full control over all of its territory from rebel forces. Russian troops have continued to support Syria’s army, even as Putin and Erdogan have joined with Iran to try to broker an agreement to end the conflict.
Moscow in December hosted talks between the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers for the first time since the war erupted in the Arab state in 2011, amid signs of a gradual rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus.
–With assistance from Beril Akman.
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