Turkiye says world should not be distracted from Syria crisis

Syrian children, who have to struggle with hard life conditions and cold winter as refugees in Bettin Camp, walk in mud by a puddle formed after the rainfall in Idlib, Syria on January 20, 2024 [İzettin Kasım – Anadolu Agency]

Turkiye argued the world should not be distracted from the deadlock in Syria while other crises take prominence, local Turkish media reports.

“The rise of other large-scale crises should not diminish our attention to Syria, as economic, security and humanitarian aspects of the crisis continue to deteriorate. The status quo is not sustainable,” Ahmet Yıldız, Turkiye’s envoy to the UN, told the Security Council.

Yıldız said, “A re-energised focus on Syria is needed.”

“This requires, first and foremost, a change of attitude on side of the Syrian regime to initiate genuine national reconciliation,” he added.

Hundreds of thousands of people have since been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN figures.

More than a quarter of Syrians live in extreme poverty, the World Bank says, 13 years into a devastating civil war that has battered the economy and impoverished millions.

READ: Amnesty International calls on EU leaders to protect Syria refugees in Lebanon

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