Earthquake relief: Assad wants to open more border crossings to Turkey Very controversial: Israel legalizes settlements in the West Bank

According to diplomats, President Bashar al-Assad wants to open two more border crossings into Turkey to improve humanitarian aid in the earthquake-hit areas of Syria, which are difficult to access.

Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee should be open for three months, UN emergency response coordinator Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council on Monday, several diplomats said. Griffiths is currently in Syria and met Assad in Damascus on Monday.

The fragmentation of the country, where civil war broke out in 2011, complicates the work of the United Nations and aid agencies after the disaster that killed at least 37,500 people in Turkey and Syria. UN aid to non-government-controlled areas in the northwest reaches the victims so far only through a border crossing with Turkey (Bab al-Hawa). The Syrian government has so far wanted to allow humanitarian aid to flow fully through the areas it controls.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed Assad’s decision: “Opening these border crossings – along with facilitating access for humanitarian aid, expediting visa approvals and facilitating travel between hubs – will allow more aid to arrive more quickly. ” (sda/dpa)