Madam President,

As this is the first time that I address the Security Council in my current capacity as the Permanent Representative of Türkiye to the United Nations, I would first like to greet the distinguished members of the Council and congratulate Malta for steering the Council’s work this month.

I also thank Special Envoy Pedersen, Under-Secretary-General Griffiths and Rasha Muhrez for their valuable briefings.

Madam President,

Turkish people and the people of neighboring Syria are faced with the overwhelming consequences of one of the most devastating earthquakes in history.

Our pain and sorrow are profound. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims, their grieving families and millions of affected people.

I would like to take this opportunity to convey heartfelt thanks and appreciation of my Government and the people for the overflow of sympathy and expressions of support that we have come to receive from the international community, including the members of the Council, the UN and the EU.

As we try to fulfill the enormous task of addressing many dimensions of post-disaster emergency, humanitarian assistance and recovery in an area larger in size than Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark combined with around 14 million inhabitants, the continued international support, including through the UN flash appeal for Türkiye, will be crucial.

While grappling with these challenges in our own country, we continue to do our best to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people.

We have already repaired the roads leading to the Bab al Hawa border gate which were damaged and rendered useless by the earthquake. We have also made available Bab al Salam and Bab al Rai border gates for the transfer of desperately needed UN aid faster and in greater quantities to the most affected areas.

Bab al Salam and Bab al Rai were already operational and open for the zero-point aid deliveries of third countries and humanitarian organizations.

Since the earthquakes a total of 456 UN aid trucks have passed these border-crossings, delivering essential relief items to millions of Syrians.

Maintaining a scaled-up UN response through these crossings as long as needed will be critically important to meet the needs in Syria in the most expedited, effective and efficient manner.

We continue to facilitate UN field visits to assess the needs in the affected areas as well as the delivery of humanitarian assistance by the third countries to the region.

Our airspace is also open to planes carrying humanitarian aid to Syria.

On day one of the earthquake, we also announced that if need be, we can also consider to open Yayladağı/Keseb border crossing for international aid to the regime-controlled areas through Türkiye. This remains our position.

Madam President,

UN’s humanitarian flash appeal for Syria is an important instrument through which urgent needs of the Syrian people can be accommodated in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes.

It is essential that the resources raised through the flash appeal are channeled to the places where they are needed most and used to alleviate the plight of the people in the affected areas.

In addition to cross border aid, Türkiye also continues its efforts to facilitate cross-line deliveries.

The first cross-line aid delivery to Ras al-Ayn after the earthquake - the second since 2019 - was held on February 26, transporting medical and humanitarian aid to the region.

We are also working to facilitate cross-line aid delivery from Aleppo to Idlib.

Madam President,

The devastation brought about by the earthquake exasperated the suffering, despair and displacement of the Syrian people. It also demonstrated once again the inter-related nature of all components of the Syrian crisis and increased the urgency of creation of momentum in the political process.

A sustainable political solution meeting the aspirations of the Syrian people can only be reached in line with Security Council Resolution 2254. In order the achieve progress, greater alignment of the positions of all stakeholders is needed. We fully support UN Special Envoy Pedersen’s efforts in this direction.

As we have come to emphasize, the return of refugees is also a part and parcel of the settlement of the Syrian crisis and should be treated as such. Therefore, along with the political process, simultaneous steps should be taken to facilitate safe, dignified and voluntary return of the Syrian refugees.

Throughout this whole process, the elimination of terrorist elements, such as PKK/YPG or DAESH, and disruption of their separatist agendas in Syria will remain essential.

Terrorism is the biggest threat to the territorial integrity of Syria as well as to peace and security in the region.

Türkiye will continue its efforts to contribute to the maintenance of calm on the ground and the fight against terrorism.

I thank you.