Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria
Things are getting better in Syria for the first time in three years, said a top UN diplomat on Thursday.
"We have now had five weeks without any attack. I cannot remember such a period for the last three years in Idlib," Jan Egeland, an advisor to Special UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura, told reporters at the UN in Geneva.
But he also said the terrorist groups of the PKK/YPG and the Bashar al-Assad regime have attacked thousands of civilians in eastern Syria.
Underlining his hopes for diplomacy, Egeland expressed his joy to see Turkey and Russia reach agreements.
It has been a year since Syria's Raqqa province, once known as a Daesh stronghold, came under the control of the YPG/PKK terrorist group.Today, the bodies of slain civilians -- found in numerous mass graves -- are being prepared for proper burials.The YPG/PKK seized the war-torn province -- with U.S. air cover -- on Oct. 17 of last year.Throughout the last 12 months, numerous mass graves have been found in the city based on information obtained from the families of the missing.Raqqa’s so-called “civil assembly”, set up in an attempt to justify the YPG/PKK’s ongoing occupation of the city, has granted some Arab residents positions on the assembly to give the impression that the local community has a say in the city’s administration.Ilyas Hamish, a member of the civil assembly responsible for issues related to the mass graves, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that the local authorities had found most of the graves based on information provided by grieving families.Turkish forces 'neutralize' 12 PKK terrorists in N.IraqUS continues to arm PKK terrorists in Syria under the pretext of fighting Daesh"We are currently working in the city’s Old Mosque district, where there appear to be 50 to 80 bodies," he said.Noting that most of the bodies had been improperly buried, Hamish said that 30 of them had since been disinterred and were now being prepared for reburial.Mahmoud Ahmad, who was forced to bury his child in the area, said his son was killed by a U.S. airstrike.“We buried my son here when airstrikes were raining down on Raqqa and we couldn't take him to a proper cemetery,” Ahmad lamented.He went on to recount how he and his family had fled Raqqa after the hasty burial of his son.“We thought of it [his son’s burial] as a temporary solution. But upon our return, we encountered great difficulty finding the burial site again,” he said.“There were only four people buried here back then; now there are more than 100,” he added.In a report released last week, an activist group that documents atrocities in the city (dubbed "Raqqa is being slaughtered silently") stated: "Raqqa’s civil assembly received financial support from the [U.S.-led] coalition to find bodies, remove debris, and sweep for landmines and explosives.”“But the assembly has does almost nothing regarding these issues," the report states, adding that some 3,000 bodies had so far been unearthed from the mass grave found near the city center.Turkish forces 'neutralize' 3 PKK terrorists in N. IraqYPK/PKK terrorFor the past year, the YPG/PKK has oppressed and terrorized Raqqa’s local population -- as it has in other areas under its control.It has forcibly recruited civilians into its ranks and has prevented many local residents from rebuilding their homes, many of which were destroyed last year by intense coalition airstrikes.The YPG/PKK, however, does not provide any public services, while residents accused of having links with the opposition frequently face arbitrary detention.In a report published last December, the U.K.-based Syrian Network for Human Rights said a total of 2,323 civilians had been killed in Raqqa in the period from November 2016 to October 2017.
In post-Daesh Raqqah, slain locals await proper burials
"The Russian and Turkish sides have indicated that more time will be given to implementing the agreement” reached in Sochi, Russia, for the northern Syrian province of Idlib.
“There will be more time for diplomacy," he added.
According to Egeland, the UN have 12,000 humanitarian workers in Syria and donors have released aid which was frozen out of fear it would never reach anyone due to a lack of security.
"We have now a window of opportunity to help people and that is important before the winter,” he said, adding that a relief convoy with food, health and personal care items will be sent to Rukhban, southeastern Syria.
The UN has sent 30 trucks of humanitarian aid to Syria’s northwestern Idlib province on Thursday.The convoy passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in southern Hatay’s Reyhanli district.Some 600 tons of humanitarian aid will be distributed to people in need in Idlib and its rural areas.Located near the Turkish border, Idlib province is home to more than three million Syrians, many of whom fled from other cities following attacks by regime forces.Putin thanks Turkey over Idlib, says 'Turkish partners are acting tough' to fulfill agreementsFollowing a meeting in Russia’s port city of Sochi last month between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two countries agreed to establish the Idlib demilitarized zone.Ankara and Moscow also signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the “stabilization” of Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.Russia and Turkey give more time for Idlib deal in Syria: UN
UN sends 30 trucks of humanitarian aid to Syria's Idlib
Egeland said there are reports of deaths in the area due to lack of relief supplies. "The last time we reached Rukhban was last January," he added.
"7,000 civilians fled the area with little international attention," Egeland said.
In the Sochi agreement, Ankara and Moscow signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the “stabilization” of Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing renewed fighting.
Syrians residing at temporary accommodation centers in southeastern Şanlıurfa's Akcçkale district continue to move out with their families.The Directorate General of Migration Management asked the preference of stay of the Syrian guests at the Akçakale Temporary Accommodation Center.Nearly 5,000 Syrians have moved out of the tent city that is soon to be closed and went to houses they rented in neighboring districts and provinces, escorted by gendarmerie and security units.The accommodation center, established in 2012 by the Directorate General of Migration Management, was hosting 22,220 Syrians.‘Turkey managed refugee influx remarkably well’For those who chose to move out of the accommodation center and move to cities other than Antalya and Istanbul receive monetary funds if a rental lease is provided.The evacuation process from the temporary accommodation center is expected to be completed by Oct. 26.Turkey hosts some 3.5 million Syrian refugees -- more than any other other country in the world -- spending more than $32 billion from its own national resources to help and shelter refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.Russia and Turkey give more time for Idlib deal in Syria: UN‘Syrians always warmly welcomed in Turkey’
Syrians moving out of tent cities in SE Turkey