The Turkish government has refused to open border crossings in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria as international efforts are made to help those affected by last week’s earthquakes in Turkey, near the Syrian border.
“It is out of the question for Turkey to open local border crossings [na Síria] controlled by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG)”said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, quoted by Turkey’s state news agency Anatolia.
Ankara told the United Nations that it is possible to “send humanitarian aid through the two passes under Turkish control”.
“We said we can open these doorways for humanitarian aid”Cavusoglu said, emphasizing the “humanitarian duty to help the Syrian people after the deadly earthquakes”.
Turkey has conducted numerous military campaigns against Kurdish militias in northern Iraq and Syria, including one launched in November against the PKK and YPG – a key member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – after the attack by November 13 in Istanbul, killing six and injuring more than 80.
Cavusoglu’s statements were made after Syria on Monday opened the Bab al-Salam and Al-Rai crossings on its border with Turkey for a period of three months to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the country, the secretary-general confirmed. of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
The most recent balance indicates that the earthquakes – one of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale, followed by several aftershocks, one of which was magnitude 7.5 – that occurred on February 6 in both countries killed more than 36,200 , including more than 31,600 on Turkish territory.
More than 4,500 people were killed in Syria, including 1,414 in government-controlled areas and about 3,160 in rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country, according to data from the Syrian Civil Defense, known as “white helmets”.
Source: DN
