Turkey is pushing for two more border gates to be opened into northwest Syria, which was ravaged by the earthquakes on Monday, according to Foreign Minister Mevlüt avuşolu.
The Cilvegözü gate is already open, but more is needed due to the ongoing humanitarian tragedy, avuşolu stated to reporters during a joint news conference with Vice President Fuat Oktay on Wednesday.
He added that Turkey also provides the support required to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Syria by allowing the use of its airspace and other means. “This is not a political issue, but a humanitarian one,” he said.
According to Syrian state media and a rescue team working in the opposition-held northwest as of Wednesday, the number of people killed in Syria as a result of the earthquakes on Monday had topped 2,600.
The war-torn nation has appealed to the UN and all of its members for assistance with rescue operations, medical care, shelter, and food supplies.
The U.N. released $25 million from its emergency fund to help launch the humanitarian response in Turkey and Syria, saying it is “exploring all avenues” to get supplies to opposition-held northwest Syria.
The road from Turkey to northern Syria’s Bab al-Hawa border crossing was damaged, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, temporarily impeding the delivery of aid to the areas controlled by the opposition. The border crossing “is actually intact,” he claimed.
U.N. aid is only permitted to enter the region through Bab al-Hawa.
According to Dujarric, the U.N. is assembling a convoy to cross the Syrian conflict lines. However, that would probably necessitate a fresh arrangement with Bashar Assad’s administration, which has been laying siege to areas controlled by the opposition throughout the civil war.
Syrian refugees make up more than 1.7 million of the 15 million people living in the ten regions affected by the earthquake in Turkey, according to Dujarric.
