Turkiye calls for 12-month extension of cross-border aid to Syria

Turkiye has urged the international community to extend much-needed aid to millions in north-west Syria, as the current mandate is set to expire in just over a week.

In January this year, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and its member states approved the current six-month authorisation, which is due to expire on 10 July. The approval and the lead up to it is a bi-annual issue that often becomes contentious due to objections by the likes of Russia and China.

Addressing a UNSC meeting on Syria on Thursday, Turkiye’s envoy to the UN, Sedat Onal, stated that “the UN and its humanitarian partners need predictability with a longer-term perspective to sustain their crucial operations.”

He stressed that “under the current conditions, especially in northwest Syria, which suffered the most damage from the [6 February] earthquakes, the UN cross-border mechanism remains the only viable lifeline for millions of Syrians in need.”

READ: UN, Syria gov’t failed to deliver timely aid after quake

Instead of the usual 6-month extension, Onal called for a year-long extension, saying that the “Security Council’s extension of the mandate of the cross-border mechanism for 12 months will be critically important.”

The envoy called on UNSC members to base their decisions on humanitarian considerations rather than political allegiances, recommending the inclusion and opening of new border gates along the Turkish-Syrian border as a potential effective mechanism to increase predictability in the aid deliveries.

His comments were echoed by the UN’s aid chief Martin Griffiths, who also urged for a 12-month extension as it “enables us and our partners to deliver better humanitarian outcomes in the months ahead. It is as simple as that.”

Unsurprisingly, Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, argued against extensions during the session, claiming that it violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as it bypasses the permission of Syrian dictator and president Bashar al-Assad.

“They’re trying to convince us that the cross-border mechanism should be extended for 12 months in order to better plan operations,” Nebenzia said. “Let us ask the question, what means will the UN be using to plan these operations?”