As the death toll from Monday’s 7.8 earthquake rises, rescue operations are intensifying. Turkey And Syriawhen rescuers arrange a real struggle in adverse (weather, but also … political) conditions, trying to pull out from the rubble as many as possible from the thousands of people trapped alive.

Rescue work is hampered mainly by bad weather and cold. Aid workers say the snow weighs down debris and increases the risk of buildings collapsing. However, as the Gzero website notes in its analysis, there are other … political factors that hinder and complicate rescue efforts.

From Syria

Much of Syria is now back under the control of President Bashar al-Assad, who, however, has been repeatedly accused by the West of using chemical weapons against his own people, not once, but at least nine times since the civil war began. in Syria in 2011.

However, northern Syria is a special case. Its northeast is largely controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces, with the Americans keeping some 900 of their troops in the north of the country. On the other hand, its northwestern part, located closer to Turkey and affected by the earthquake, is controlled by Ankara, as well as rebel groups, and the Russians, who have military bases in the country, also play an important role in Syrian affairs.

Indeed, gang warfare and airstrikes make a coordinated foreign aid mission in Syria almost impossible. While the European Union on Wednesday announced a €3.5 million emergency humanitarian aid to Syria, it remains unclear how it will be distributed, especially since the Assad regime requires all aid to pass through Damascus first. Assad may not allow the surrender of the opposition in northern Syria, but Brussels cannot agree to this. UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered northwest Syria today through Turkey through the Bab el-Hawa checkpoint with blankets, hygiene kits, etc., but no food.

“Our trucks are ready and there is a desire. We are just waiting to get access,” said a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The problems that remain are evidenced by her attitude French government, who said today through the mouth of a representative of the French Foreign Ministry that humanitarian assistance to Syria should be provided through UN mechanisms and non-governmental organizations, and not through Assad.

Indicative of the climate is what British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said today, without mentioning Assad, arguing that his country will continue to cooperate on a humanitarian mission with Turkey, the UN and the White Helmets.

From Turkey

On the other hand, in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accused of not launching rescue operations quickly enough. Erdogan, for his part, accused the Turkish opposition of using the tragedy to score political points ahead of the upcoming elections. At the same time, the Turkish President said that it was impossible to prepare for such an extreme event.

However, many Turks are wondering where is this whole system of survival that should have been formed/strengthened after the previous catastrophic earthquake in 1999.

Erdogan’s side is clearly worried about mounting criticism, and in this regard, his move to limit citizens’ access to Twitter through which many of these messages critical of the Turkish government were circulated.

“The crackdown on critics is now more important than ever for Erdogan, who faces a bitter battle for re-election on May 14,” Gzero concludes in his analysis.

According to Gzero, Reuters