TURKEY URGES UN TO FACILITATE AID ENTRY INTO SYRIA

Mafraq, Jordania, 5 Rajab 1435/4 May 2014 (MINA) – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday urged the U.N. Security Council to implement an earlier resolution to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Syria.

“The Syrian regime does not allow relief aid in and the United Nations is doing nothing about it,” Davutoglu told a press conference in Zaatari Refugee Camp, Mafraq, northeastern Jordan, where a meeting of foreign ministers of Syria’s neighboring countries is staking place.

“There around 5.5 million internally displaced persons in Syria…and humanitarian aid must be allowed in for them,” said the Turkish minister, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

He expected the of Syria’s neighboring countries meeting to come up with “important” decisions, without elaborating.

Davutoglu went on to say that Ankara still favors a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

He urged the international community to support the countries that are hosting Syria refugees.

Earlier, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh also appealed to the international community to “shoulder its responsibility” towards the Syrian refugees and their host countries.

Davutoglu said Turkey would want the refugees to remain in Syria but cannot deny them access to its territory.

Zaatari is the largest refugee camp for Syrians in Jordan, housing over 110,000 refugees.

The meeting brings together ministers and officials from Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt as well as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.

It seeks to highlight the dire humanitarian situation of refugees in Syria’s neighboring nations.

Syria has been in the throes of civil war since March 2011 after a peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad escalated into an armed insurrection following a violent government crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations.

The U.N. estimates there are now nearly 2.7 million Syrians registered in neighboring countries, with more than 67,500 more in the process. (T/P09/E01).

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).