UN Security Council extends critical aid from Türkiye to Syria's north

The UN Security Council members have voted unanimously to keep a key border crossing from Türkiye to Syria’s rebel-held northwest open for critical aid deliveries for another six months.

Syrian regime's ally Russia — in a surprise move — supported the resolution on Monday.

All eyes had been on Russia, which in the past has abstained or vetoed resolutions on cross-border aid deliveries. It has sought to replace humanitarian aid crossing the Turkish border to northwest Idlib province with convoys from government-held areas across conflict lines.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had warned that the already dire humanitarian situation in Syria is worsening and if the aid deliveries from Türkiye to northwestern Idlib are not renewed, millions of Syrians might not survive the winter.

Guterres said deliveries have increased across conflict lines within the country, but he said they cannot substitute for “the size or scope of the massive cross-border United Nations operation.”

On Sunday, a convoy of 18 trucks entered the area of Idlib through front lines held by Syrian government forces.

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Türkiye welcomes the resolution

The resolution put the Security Council on record as “determining that the devastating humanitarian situation in Syria continues to constitute a threat to peace and security in the region.”

Ankara welcomed the decision, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday: "The UN mechanism plays a vital role in the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance to 4.1 million people in need in this region."

The scale of the humanitarian crisis in northwestern Syria and regional stability necessitate the longer-term maintenance of the UN mechanism, it added.

"Türkiye, which has maintained its cooperation with the international community to this end, will continue to do so in the future," the ministry said.

READ MORE: Thousands form human chain in Syria's Idlib to keep border crossing open

'Complex humanitarian emergency'

In July, the Council approved a resolution extending humanitarian aid deliveries to Idlib, which is home to 4.1 million people. 

Many of the people sheltering in the area have been internally displaced by the nearly 12-year conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

The UN resolution encourages efforts to improve cross-front-line aid deliveries and calls on all 193 UN member states to respond to Syria’s “complex humanitarian emergency”.

It urges states to meet the urgent needs of the Syrian people “in light of the profound socioeconomics and humanitarian impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

In addition, it calls for stepped-up initiatives to broaden activities to include providing water, sanitation, health, education, electricity, shelter and early recovery projects.

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