Madame President,

I thank Under Secretary General Griffiths for his briefing. I also thank Dr. Farida Almouslem for her remarks.

The conflict in Syria has now entered its twelfth year.

As the conflict persists year after year, the scale of the humanitarian suffering also continues to grow.

This year's estimated 14.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, means a further 9% increase from 2021.

We may pronounce these statistics somewhat easily in this Chamber, but behind each number and percentage, there are real human beings, mothers, fathers, children, wives and husbands.

Each with their own story, pain and loss, and very often with their own shattered hopes for the future.

Following the start of the war in Ukraine, we, as the international community, have engaged in a colossal mobilization to help the millions of innocent civilians in the middle of Europe. We have done so rightly, and we will continue to put forth all the efforts that we can.

By the same token, we cannot and should not forget our responsibility towards the millions of Syrians who have been suffering all kinds of attacks and violations at the hands of a brutal regime and terrorist organizations for more than a decade now.

We simply cannot afford the humanitarian situation in Syria to be sidelined on our global agenda.

Let us not forget:

The Syrian conflict continues to pose a grave threat to international peace and stability.

This conflict is still the primary breeding ground for one of the most urgent humanitarian crises in the world. A crisis of catastrophic proportions.

Yet, the UN’s Syria Humanitarian Response Plan received only 46 percent of the required funds for the year 2021.

This has happened at a time when the needs have reached unprecedented levels.

For 2022-2023, the UN will require 4.4 billion Dollars of funding to be able to fully support everyone in need within the country.

Simply speaking, more will be needed, not less.

The international community has to ensure that humanitarian aid continues in an increasing manner and without interruption.

Madame President,

We are now weeks away from the renewal of the UN cross-border mechanism.

The humanitarian situation in northwest Syria continues to deteriorate.

This is evidenced by the UN’s reports that indicate an increase of over 20 percent in the number of people in need of humanitarian aid in the northwest.

From 3.4 million people in 2021, to 4.1 million in 2022.

This means that 93% of the entire population in northwest Syria depend on international aid.

3.1 million people need medical assistance, while more than 2.8 million people remain internally displaced. Not to mention that 58 percent of the people in displacement sites are children.

According to the WFP, food prices are up by as much as 67 percent since the start of the war in Ukraine, which has become an added cause for food insecurity, impacting 3.1 million people in northwest Syria.

In the face of the extremely precarious humanitarian situation, the UN cross-border mechanism has proven itself to be a life-saving instrument for millions of Syrians.

It is one of the most sophisticated, scrutinized and transparent humanitarian assistance systems ever put in place.

The most recent cross-line humanitarian aid delivery to İdleb took place this week. Türkiye remains committed to facilitating the safe continuation of these missions.

However, the cross-line convoys cannot in any way replace or replicate the size and scope of the enormous cross-border operation.

There is simply no alternative to the cross-border operation in addressing the acute needs.

Members of this Council have an obligation to provide the millions of Syrians squeezed in the northwest with long-term support and certainty.

The extension of the cross-border mandate is a moral and humanitarian imperative, which should be guided solely by humanitarian considerations and not be politicized.

Madame President,

This week, the UN is hosting the first ever International Migration Review Forum.
We have heard many wise words and strong commitments from UN member states.

As the representative of the largest refugee hosting country in the world since 2014, let me also highlight the burden on the shoulders of the neighboring countries, which should not be forgotten.

We all know that the only way to stop the suffering in Syria is a comprehensive political solution to the conflict, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

The longer we fail to effectively address the root causes of the crisis, the more acute its repercussions become.

Principled, responsive and effective action is needed more than ever to alleviate this humanitarian crisis and produce a lasting political solution to the Syrian conflict.

As to the hallucinatory statement made by the criminal Syrian regime representative, I will repeat, I do not consider him as my legitimate counterpart.

Therefore, I will not respond to his delusional accusations.

Thank you.