Syria's Assad regime, currently involved in a civil war that has displaced millions, approved an extension of humanitarian aid to the country for another six months.
The United Nations has been using the Bab al-Hawa crossing from Türkiye to deliver aid to millions in northwest Syria since 2014 with authorization from the U.N. Security Council.
That expired in mid-2023 after the 15-member body failed to reach an agreement to extend it, and the Assad regime then said the U.N. could continue using the Bab al-Hawa crossing for another six months. In a diplomatic note seen by Reuters and dated Jan. 11, Syria's mission to the United Nations said Damascus would "extend its permission granted to the United Nations (UN) to use Bab al-Hawa crossing to deliver humanitarian assistance to the North-West of Syria for an additional period of six months until 13 July 2024."
Damascus has also allowed the U.N. to send aid through two other Turkish crossings after an earthquake killed more than 50,000 people in Türkiye and Syria last year. That authorization is set to expire on Feb. 13.
Türkiye has been seeking renewals to both sets of authorizations.
Millions of people in the opposition-held northwest rely on aid deliveries through Türkiye for access to food, medicine and other basic needs. After nearly 13 years of conflict, many across the country are living in their most dire economic conditions yet, with nine out of 10 Syrians living under the poverty line.
Türkiye, which has backed the opposition forces in Syria's 12-year-old civil war and has no ties with Damascus diplomatically, has been a center for aid delivery into northwest Syria since 2014, mainly through its Bab al-Hawa (Cilvegözü) crossing, with U.N. Security Council authorization.
Turkish sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was crucial to extend the authorizations, namely for Bab al-Hawa, to allow planning for long-term humanitarian and development projects in the region. One source said that adding deadlines caused "constant pressure and unpredictability."
"The U.N. is also looking, with the (Syrian) regime, at the possibility of extending this indefinitely this time, without a three- or six-month set limit," the source said.
"We are closely following negotiations the U.N. is holding on the use of these border crossings; we are in constant contact," the person said, adding the Security Council might adopt a binding resolution if an extension is not agreed with Damascus.
Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said talks were continuing with Damascus on the cross-border aid as it remained a "lifeline" to some 2.5 million people in the northwest, the last major Syrian opposition bastion as the war has abated.
She said 5,000 trucks of aid had crossed into the region in 2023, with 4,000 entering via Bab al-Hawa.
Millions of people have fled Syria since the conflict began in 2011, including some 3.3 million refugees in Türkiye. Millions more have been internally displaced. The Assad regime has retaken control of much of Syria with the military backing of Iran and Russia, and fighting has largely subsided. Syrian opposition now fears Assad may soon be able to choke off badly needed humanitarian aid, as Damascus acts to establish its sway over United Nations assistance.
The Assad regime wants aid deliveries to the northwest to go through government-controlled areas, referred to as cross-line aid. Türkiye has said it supports both cross-line and cross-border aid as long as it continues unhindered.
The Turkish sources said that other, hotter conflicts, like those in Gaza and Ukraine, had prompted donors to scale back humanitarian financing for northwest Syria, impacting the amount of aid being dispatched.
"We are reminding donor nations that this could have serious consequences on the ground for the region, and even for Europe," said the second Turkish source. "We are telling them: 'Reconsider these decisions.'"
Türkiye has carried out several cross-border military operations against the PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing YPG and Daesh in northern Syria, held talks with Iran and Russia for a political solution to Syria's war, and has recently taken steps to revive ties with the Assad regime. However, it has complained of stagnation on the issue because of what it calls Assad's unwillingness to compromise to contain cross-border attacks by the PKK/YPG and to repatriate Syrian refugees in Türkiye.
