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3,000 Syrians waiting behind border allowed into Turkey

Turkish military use water cannon to stop Syrian refugees as they wait behind the border fences to cross into Turkey, near Akçakale in Şanlıurfa province on June 10. (Photo: Reuters)

June 10, 2015, Wednesday/ 18:25:17/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM WITH REUTERS / ISTANBUL

Around 3,000 Syrian refugees, who had been waiting near Turkey's border for the past three days, were granted permission to enter the country on Wednesday.

The Syrians had been waiting behind the barbed wire near the border in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, requesting to enter Turkey. On Wednesday, they were allowed in, given food and water by Turkish soldiers and brought to refugee camps in the Akçakale district. Soldiers were also seen helping the refugees carry their luggage and children. However, due to congestion during the flow of people, a water cannon was fired towards the crowd from time to time.

A Reuters' photographer at the scene said many of them were women and children and they had entered Turkey through a makeshift border crossing between official gates. Turkish gendarmerie officers oversaw the transfer, he said.

After checkpoint searches were conducted on the Syrians, the Prime Ministry's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) teams took them to a registration center established in Akçakale.

Close to the Turkish-Syria border, some Kurdish groups are still fighting with militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as the US-led coalition launches airstrikes on ISIL targets. The Syrian refugees who came to the Turkish border three days ago fled the area because of the intensifying battle between Kurds and ISIL to gain control of the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad. ISIL is in control of the border town in Hasaka province. The hardline group last week launched a counter-offensive in the provincial capital, Hasaka city, which is divided into zones run separately by the government of President Bashar al-Assad and a Kurdish administration. The northeastern corner of Syria is strategically important because it links areas controlled by ISIL. Syrian Kurds have also sought to expand their territorial control over a region stretching from Kobani to Qamishli, which they see as part of a future Kurdish state.

"They [the Syrian refugees] are escaping coalition bombardments as well as YPGadvancement," a Turkish official told Reuters, referring to Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG), the Kurdish militia and US-led coalition giving aerial support to Kurds. The Turkish official also said since last week 6,837 people were admitted in the area, and 86 of them were Iraqi nationals.

It is estimated that more than 2.5 million Syrian refugees have entered Turkey, since the civil war started in the country.

Keywords: Syrian refugees , Turkey , Şanlıurfa , Akçakale , AFAD , ISIL , YPG