Despite historic enmity, Syrian Kurdish groups have steered clear of confrontation with the Syrian government in the six-year-old civil war. Minutes of a meeting of UN aid agencies in Damascus on March 16, including representatives of WFP and the UN humanitarian agency UNHCR, suggested aid convoys could soon take advantage of the new land route. The UN has for months also been asking permission to truck aid into Qamishli from the Turkish border town of Nusaybin. Turkey to the north of Syria's Kurdish region is hostile to the YPG, the main Syrian Kurdish militia. The ministry's letter also said aid deliveries would have to be coordinated with the governor and relief sub-committee of Syria's Hasakeh governorate.

Source: Egypt Independent March 20, 2017 16:52 UTC