At a press conference, the Charity Union in Damascus announced a humanitarian appeal for the removal of the western blockade on Syria, according to SANA.
As a devastating earthquake ravaged the nation, Western nations—particularly the US and its allies—have been urged to withdraw their embargo and sanctions against Syria to allow for unhindered rescue and relief efforts.
The epicentre of the earthquake was said to be in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş, and it was said to have been most severely felt in Gaziantep, which is home to millions of Syrian refugees.
A number of the impacted districts in Turkey experienced severe rain and snowfall on Monday and Tuesday, which hampered relief and rescue efforts.
Idlib, Latakia, Hama, and Aleppo are just a few of the northern Syrian provinces that have been severely impacted by the earthquake.
Several of the impacted neighbourhoods in Idlib and Aleppo are largely populated by refugees from other parts of the country and are controlled by rebels.
Several nations, including the US and its allies, have offered their assistance to Turkey in its relief and rescue efforts, but they have declined to do the same for Syria.
On Monday, the US State Department made it clear that it would not negotiate with the Bashar al-Assad administration and was only willing to assist some NGO work being done in Syria.
According to SANA, 550 NGOs in Damascus and its surroundings have urged the international community to halt “unilateral and coercive sanctions” against Syria so that aid may be given to earthquake victims.
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