The UN's special envoy for Syria reiterated calls on Wednesday for revived peace talks following the February 6 earthquake that killed at least 5,000 people in the northern part of the country and at least 45,000 in Turkey.
The aftermath of the earthquake has reignited a debate within the UN Security Council and among NGOs on the extent that aid can be delivered across Turkey’s border with Syria, where many areas are held by rebel militias.
Idlib, for example, a governorate in eastern Syria home to about 900,000 refugees, is controlled by militants formerly linked to Al Qaeda.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen called for the adoption of what he called a step-for-step approach that would allow all sides to present what they are prepared to concede to reach a possible settlement.
“There needs to be a genuine Syrian-led and owned political process facilitated by the United Nations,” Mr Pedersen said.
“There needs to be a co-ordinated international effort in support of this … [as the] status quo cannot be acceptable. We need to move forward.”
Damascus and its close ally Moscow have long insisted that aid being distributed to rebel-held areas violates Syria’s sovereignty. For years, however, Russia supported short-term access on a rolling basis through a single crossing at Bab Al Hawa.
Already bleak living conditions in the north of the country — where more than four million displaced Syrians have found refuge amid the 12-year-long civil war — have deteriorated even further following the earthquake.
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A woman walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. Getty Images -
A woman mourns a relative during the burial of one of the earthquake victims in Antakya, southeastern Turkey. AP Photo -
A family photo is seen amid the rubble in Hatay. Getty Images -
Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their home country following the deadly earthquake. AFP -
Members of NGOs Deathcare Embalming Team and Turkish Kurt-Ar inspect the bucket of an excavator as they search for bodies in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AP Photo -
Dust covers a family photo album found in Antakya. AP Photo -
A man made homeless by the 7.8-magnitude quake carries mattresses distributed by an NGO at a makeshift camp in Afrin, in Syria's Aleppo province. AFP -
A cracked road near the quake’s epicentre in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AFP -
A rescuer stands near the site where Aleyna Olmez, 17, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, about 10 days after the quake struck. AFP -
A rescuer holds a cat after it was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. AFP -
Quake survivors queue for food amid the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters -
Bedran, a local resident who lost his house in the earthquake, keeps warm in Antakya, Turkey. Reuters -
A girl carries a box of water bottles next to a damaged mosque in Antakya. Reuters -
A car lies crushed by parts of a badly damaged building in Samandag, Turkey. AP -
Residentes remove their belongings from their destroyed house in Samandag. AP -
Aleyna Olmez, 17, is rescued after being trapped for 10 days in Kahramanmaras. Getty -
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara. AFP -
A message scrawled on a car covered in dust from collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP -
Destruction in Antakya. AP -
A cracked road leads to a flooded area in Antakya. AP -
A man looks bewildered at the site of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. EPA -
Numbered stones near graves of earthquake victims at a cemetery in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA -
A makeshift camp set up amid the rubble in Antakya, south of Hatay. AFP -
A woman holds her baby inside a tent in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. AFP -
Greek and Turkish rescuers are at work to extract bodies of victims from the rubble in Antakya. AFP -
Samar Hamouda, 44, recalls her experience of the earthquake destroying her home, at Tishreen Hospital in Latakia, Syria. Reuters -
A damaged house in Jableh, Syria. Reuters -
Photos of missing children left in hope in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters -
People collect copies of holy books from the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters -
Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. Reuters -
People carry a bodybag as residents wait for their relatives to be pulled out from the rubble in Hatay. AFP -
Dust covers a family photo album found in the debris of a building in Antakya. AP -
Portuguese rescue team members try to free the dog named Tarcin from the rubble in Antakya in Hatay. EPA -
An injured survivor at a makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP -
A makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP -
Britain's King Charles III (C) meets with members of the Turkish diaspora community who have been collecting, packaging and organising the transportation of food, blankets and warm clothing for people who have recently been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, during a visit to the West London Turkish Volunteers, in Hounslow, greater London. AFP -
People stand by the fire next to the ruins of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Turkey. Reuters -
Destroyed buildings in Syria's rebel-held village of Atarib, in the north-western Aleppo province. AFP -
Rescuers carry Fatma, 15, who was pulled out from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters -
A displaced woman receives food inside a stadium in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters -
People lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp in Iskenderun city in southern Turkey. AP -
Humanitarian aid provided by Saudi Arabia for survivors of the February 6 earthquake are unloaded at Aleppo Airport in northern Syria. AFP -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the World Government Summit in Dubai via video link. Antonie Robertson/The National -
A man walks between trains being using as shelters in Iskenderun, southern Turkey. AP Photo -
A woman and children inside a train being used as shelter after the earthquake, in Iskenderun. AP Photo -
Tents erected in a school yard for Syrians who have lost their homes after the deadly quake, in the rebel-held town of Harem in Syria. Reuters -
A woman walks by the destroyed Habib-i Neccar mosque in the historic southern city of Antakya in Hatay, Turkey. AFP -
Rescuers pull out a 12-year-old Syrian girl, Cudi, from the rubble in Hatay. AFP -
Amar, a Syrian refugee living in Turkey, looks on as search for survivors continues in Kahramanmaras. Reuters -
Displaced people keep warm by a fire in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters -
Earthquake survivors receive distributed meals in Golbasi, Turkey. AP -
A woman stands amid boxes of donated clothes in Golbasi, Turkey. AP -
A man walks near a damaged building that leans on a neighbouring house in Golbasi, Turkey. AP -
UN emergency relief co-ordinator Martin Griffiths stands amid quake-damaged buildings in Aleppo, Syria. Reuters -
Delegates observe a moment of silence for the Turkey–Syria earthquake before the start of the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National -
People keep warm by a fire as the search for survivors continues a week after the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters -
A child receives food in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters -
A dog is seen through a glass door in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters -
Children walk in the street with food boxes in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters -
A minaret stands as the sun rises over the earthquake-hit city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
Damaged roads along the Turkey-Syria border as well as disagreement over how many border crossings into the north of the country could be used left millions of people languishing without assistance in the critical hours and days following the quake.
An agreement was eventually reached to open more border crossing points for aid, but the distribution of humanitarian relief within the country remains contentious.
Mr Pedersen stressed that the warring sides and international players should approach peace efforts in the same way as they made concessions in response to the earthquakes.
“A month ago, there was no prospect of the opening of more border crossings, nor moves to ease sanctions in a concrete way,” he said, referring to measures adopted in response to the earthquakes.
“They need the same logic that was applied on the humanitarian front to now be applied on the political level.”
