Mr President,
I thank Special Envoy Pedersen and ASG Msuya for their briefings.
Let me start by emphasizing that it is vital to accelerate efforts for a political solution in Syria.
On its part, Türkiye, from the very beginning, have been supporting every effort towards a political solution that will ensure a united Syria free, safe and democratic. We have played a constructive and leading role in all initiatives that aim to reach a lasting solution as soon as possible.
At the forefront of these efforts is the political process based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
As we have underlined time and again, there is no way to end the Syrian conflict and offer a lasting settlement, other than a political solution to be agreed upon by all the segments of the people of Syria.

Mr President,
Our longest land border is with Syria, 911 kilometers to be exact.
Therefore, protection of the territorial integrity and unity of Syria is indispensable for us.
Equally vital is the elimination of the threat posed by terrorist organizations to both Syria and Türkiye.
It is also crucial that Syrians are able to return to their homes in safety and peace, play a role in the future of their country, and contribute to its re-development and to the establishment of lasting peace.
We believe that a political solution on the basis of these elements is not impossible, if all segments of the Syrian society make sincere and constructive efforts. Türkiye will not withhold its support towards this direction.
The Syrian opposition has so far acted in good faith to contribute to the success of the political process. We will continue to encourage them in this direction.
Throughout the 8 rounds of the Constitutional Committee, the opposition’s positive approach was clearly seen and appreciated by the UN and other observers. However, progress can be made only if a similar approach is displayed by the regime. We hope that the 9th round will be held as soon as possible under the UN’s facilitation, with a result-oriented approach.

Mr President,
Eliminating the threat posed by terrorist organizations in Syria, primarily PKK/YPG and DAESH, requires joint efforts.
Terrorist organization PKK/YPG continues to attack Syrian civilians as well as our citizens within our borders using the very weapons provided to them to fight DAESH.
The so-called “Syrian Democratic Forces-SDF”, which is actually nothing but PKK/YPG, carries out, on average, 100 terrorist attacks every month in northern Syria. In the last two years, around 500 Syrians have lost their lives in these attacks.
Türkiye’s borders have been targeted more than 10 times in the last two years. Most recently, on 16th August, two Turkish soldiers were killed as a result of a mortar attack on our border province of Şanlıurfa, launched from the area under the control of the “SDF”.
No one should expect us to remain indifferent to these attacks. The countries that support PKK/YPG/SDF, including those in this chamber, should understand that the main purpose of this terrorist organization is not to fight DAESH. It is separatist terrorism in Syria and Türkiye.
The images that the “SDF” shared from their social media accounts are not images of them fighting DAESH, but rather images of their attacks on Turkish security forces, accompanied by expressions full of hatred and hostility. These images unfortunately are no surprise to us, but we wonder if and how the supporters of PKK/YPG/SDF are responding to them.
Let me repeat again: The real fight against DAESH can and must only be carried out with legitimate actors.
The mentality that a terrorist organization could be fought with the so called help of another terrorist organization is fundamentally flawed and doomed to fail.

Mr President,
As I have said time and again in this chamber, Türkiye will continue its resolute fight against all terrorist organizations threatening its national security, in exercise of its inherent right of self-defense, as embodied in Article 51 of the UN Charter, and in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions on the fight against terrorism.
Our determination in this sense is also a guarantee for Syria's territorial integrity and political unity.
Our past operations hampered the separatist agenda of the PKK/YPG terrorist organization. We are ready to cooperate with all actors that have a genuine interest and determination in the unity of Syria and in the fight against terrorism.

Mr President,
The humanitarian crisis in Syria continues unabated and other conflicts also negatively impact the already dire situation.
It was disappointing, to say the least, that despite the strong calls from the UN and the humanitarian community for a 12-month extension, the Council had to settle with a six-month renewal of the life-line cross-border operation.
We are glad that four point one million people living in north west Syria are safe for now. But when the mandate of the cross-border mechanism comes to an end on January 10th, it will be in the dead of winter.
This is literally the worst time, one can think of, to re-consider life-saving humanitarian support.
It is critical that the cross-border mandate is extended once again in January, as indeed foreseen in Security Council Resolution 2642.
We call on all relevant parties to act responsibly and support the Syrian people without discrimination.
On our part, we will maintain our support to the UN and the international humanitarian community in providing cross-border assistance to Syria.
As seen with the 6 cross-line aid deliveries to İdlib so far, Türkiye provides the greatest support to the implementation of Security Council resolutions.
We will continue to do so.
However, we are against arbitrary implementation of the resolution. Cross-line should continue but it cannot be the ultimate aim.
The ultimate aim is to deliver humanitarian aid. Ignoring cross-border deliveries and other parts of Syria cannot be justified by increasing the number of cross-line deliveries.
We also expect the UN to officially report that the most important obstacle to the cross-line activities to Idlib is the non-stop ceasefire violations of the regime and its backers in this region.
Just like in Ra’s Al-Ayn, where the negative attitude of the regime and its backers prevented planned cross-line deliveries.

Mr. President,
We are also having difficulty in understanding why both the UN and some donor countries are hesitant in extending aid to the opposition-controlled areas in Syria and implementing humanitarian assistance projects.
The inaction in this regard cannot be justified by any of the excuses put forward.
Selectivity and discrimination have no place in delivering humanitarian aid.
ln this regard, I would like to know the reasons why there is no cross-line delivery to Rukhban camp.
And we would like to request, once again, detailed information on the cross-line missions to northeast Syria.
Finally, we wish to see real progress on the water issue in El Bab, which is left unaddressed for too long.
The promise of access to Ein El Baida came very late. We will follow this issue closely.
Türkiye will keep up to support all segments of the Syrian people without discrimination in humanitarian issues.
We call on all other responsible actors to do the same.
Our support for a political solution in Syria, in line with the resolution 2254 and acceptable to the people of Syria, will continue unabated.
Thank you.