ANKARA: Turkiye is pushing the UN and others for an extension of aid deliveries into northwest Syria as global interest and funding priorities shift toward suffering in other conflicts, two Turkish sources familiar with the negotiations said.

Turkiye, which has backed fighters looking to oust President Bashar Assad in Syria’s 12-year-old civil war and has no ties with Damascus diplomatically, has been a center for aid delivery into northwest Syria since 2014, mainly through its Bab Al-Hawa (Cilvegozu) crossing, with UN Security Council authorization.

That permission was extended unilaterally by the Assad regime until Jan. 13 after the 15-member Security Council failed to reach an agreement last year.

After an earthquake killed more than 50,000 people in Turkiye and Syria in February 2023, Syria granted another permission for aid deliveries from the Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee crossings, but that will also expire on Feb. 13.

The sources said it was crucial to extend the authorizations, namely for Bab Al-Hawa, to allow planning for long-term humanitarian and development projects in the region.

One source said that adding deadlines caused “constant pressure and unpredictability.”

“The UN is also looking, with the (Syrian) regime, at the possibility of extending this indefinitely this time, without a three- or six-month set limit,” the source said.

“We are closely following negotiations the UN is holding on the use of these border crossings; we are in constant contact,” the person said, adding the Security Council might adopt a binding resolution if an extension is not agreed upon with Damascus.

The Syrian regime did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the issue.

However, two aid sources told Reuters they had heard “reassuring” news about a unilateral renewal from Damascus for the Bab Al-Hawa crossing.

Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or OCHA, said talks were continuing with Damascus on the cross-border aid as it remained a “lifeline” to some 2.5 million people in the northwest, the last major Syrian rebel bastion as the war has diminished.

She said 5,000 aid trucks had crossed the region in 2023, with 4,000 entering via Bab Al-Hawa.

Millions of people have fled Syria since the conflict began in 2011, including some 3.3 million refugees in Turkiye. Millions more have been internally displaced.

Assad has retaken control of much of Syria with the military backing of Iran and Russia, and fighting has largely subsided.

Syrian fighters now fear Assad may soon be able to choke off badly needed humanitarian aid as Damascus acts to establish its sway over UN assistance.

Assad’s regime wants aid deliveries to the northwest through regime-controlled areas — cross-line aid.

Turkiye has said it supports cross-line and cross-border aid as long as it continues unhindered.

The Turkish sources said that other, hotter conflicts, like those in Gaza and Ukraine, had prompted donors to scale back humanitarian financing for northwest Syria, impacting the amount of aid being dispatched.

“We are reminding donor nations that this could have serious consequences for the region and Europe,” said the second Turkish source.

“We are telling them: ‘Reconsider these decisions’.”

Turkiye has carried out several cross-border military operations against Kurdish militants in northern Syria, held talks with Iran and Russia for a political solution to Syria’s war, and has recently taken steps to revive ties with Damascus.

However, it has complained of stagnation on the issue because of what it calls Assad’s unwillingness to compromise to contain cross-border attacks by Kurdish militants Ankara views as terrorists and to repatriate Syrian refugees in Turkiye.