“We are in a race against time to save lives together. Soon we will provide urgent humanitarian assistance together. Turkey and Syria can count on the European Union,” the European official wrote in a tweet.
Earlier on Wednesday, the European Union confirmed its readiness to provide assistance to Syria, stressing that the sanctions it imposed on the Syrian government had no effect on its ability to assist.
Syria submitted an official request for assistance to the European Union after the earthquake that hit it and Turkey, as announced by the Continental bloc Commission.
EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Janiz Lenarcic said on Wednesday that Syria had asked for everything from search and rescue aid to medicine and food.
Reuters quoted the European official as saying that the European Union encourages its members to contribute, and denied that the sanctions would have an impact on the delivery of humanitarian aid.
What about sanctions on Syria?
- Syria has been subject to European Union sanctions since 2011. The sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans on hundreds of people and entities.
- For its part, the US State Department said: “We will not obstruct the provision of aid by other parties through the Syrian government.”
Put politics aside
The United Nations called on Wednesday to “put politics aside” and facilitate the delivery of aid to earthquake-stricken areas in northwestern Syria, a senior UN official said in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
“My appeal is… put politics aside and let’s do our humanitarian work,” said the UN Resident Coordinator in Syria, Mustafa bin Al-Maleeh, stressing that “we cannot afford to wait and negotiate. By the time we negotiate, it’s all over.”
“We need full access and support to reach” northwestern Syria, he said, referring to areas under the control of extremist factions and the opposition in and around Idlib, which were badly damaged by the earthquake that hit Syria, centered on neighboring Turkey.
Humanitarian aid intended for northwestern Syria is usually transported from Turkey through Bab al-Hawa, the only crossing point guaranteed by a Security Council resolution. However, the roads leading to the crossing were damaged by the earthquake, which temporarily affects the ability of the United Nations to use it.
the scale of the tragedy
- The devastating earthquake killed more than 11,700 people in the two countries, including 2,662 in Syria.
- No aid has been sent from inside Syria for about three weeks, according to the official, who warned that the United Nations stockpile is enough to feed 100,000 people for one week.
- He continued, “Once it is depleted, we need to renew it, and this is my appeal. We do not have time to talk about politics or negotiate.”
- “The destruction in Aleppo, Homs, Latakia and other areas and in the countryside of these provinces is massive, but we also know that the destruction in the northwest of the country is also massive, and we have to go there in order to assess it,” he said.
- He stressed, “We need the support of the concerned parties to facilitate access, whether to northwestern Syria or to the rest of the country, because there they suffer as well,” stressing that “their needs cannot be ignored.”
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