Friday, September 19, 2014

1000s of Kurds 'trapped' & Teargassed at Syria-Turkey border following ethnic cleansing by IS.


1000s of Kurds 'trapped' and teargassed at Syria-Turkey border following ethnic cleansing by IS.(Anahar).

Turkey appears to have adopted a notably tougher line against Syrian refugees trying to enter its territory. Kurds fleeing attacks by IS brigades in villages north of Aleppo are being stopped at the border with Turkey as guards there refuse them entry, reports an American news website covering Syria.

According to Syria Direct, thousands of residents fled north to escape the Islamic State's violence after the jihadist group attacked Kurdish villages near the PYD-controlled city Ain al-Arab in northern Aleppo yesterday, only to be stopped by Turkish soldiers on the border.

"The displaced Syrians fled and were met by obstinacy from the Turkish army about letting them in," a Kurdish activist stuck on the border of Turkey who asked to remain anonymous told Syria Direct yesterday. "The number of displaced is between 7,000 to 10,000, including Arabs." Groups of the displaced, largely composed of women and children, were seen carrying overstuffed bags over their heads and suitcases by their sides after having rushed out of their homes Thursday morning, the website reported.

"The Turkish [army] have only allowed in a small number of people until now, even though most of the displaced are women, children and the elderly because the men are fighting," the activist said.

According to reports at midday on Friday, a tense situation is developing on the border crossing. Close to a thousand Syrian Kurds gathered there seeking to cross into Turkey on Friday after Islamic State fighters seized 21 villages and besieged a Kurdish city in northern Syria, a Reuters witness said.

The crowd of mostly women and children sat behind a barbed wire barrier along the border opposite the Turkish village of Dikmetas, 20 km (12 miles) from the Syrian Kurdish city of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani in Kurdish.

The attack on Kobani prompted a Kurdish militant call to the youth of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) and came days after the U.S. military said the help of Syrian Kurds would be needed against the Islamist militants. The number of Kurds on the border shrank from about 3,000 on Thursday night, but more were arriving on foot from nearby villages, carrying possessions in sacks, witnesses said. Turkish security forces were not allowing them to cross the border.

"The weather was cold overnight so most went back to their villages. They started coming back to the border this morning," said Halil, a man in his 40s on the Turkish side of the border.

Turkish soldiers armed with rifles formed a line to maintain security along the border but allowed locals on the Turkish side to fling across bottles of water and bags of bread. "People are continuing to come on foot and by vehicle. We expect their numbers to swell to 3,000-4,000," said village official Huseyin Gundogdu.Read the full story here.

Related: Turkish protesters tear-gassed near Syrian border: report.

- Turkish police and troops fired tear gas and water cannon on Friday at scores of people staging a protest near the Syrian border at Ankara's refusal to take in Kurds fleeing clashes with Islamic State (IS) jihadists, local media reported.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said late Thursday Turkey had ordered its border provinces to extend aid to the Kurdish refugees -- but on Syrian territory. "We are ready to help our brothers gathered along the border but our priority is to deliver aid within Syrian borders," Davutoglu told reporters.


UPDATE: Turkey opens border to Syrian Kurds: PM.

Turkey on Friday opened up its border to thousands of Syrian Kurds fleeing clashes with Islamic State (IS) insurgents in neighbouring Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

"We will take in our brothers fleeing to Anatolia from Syria or any other place without any ethnic or sectarian discrimination," Davutoglu told reporters in Azerbaijan.

"The entries have started now," he said. "We have taken in 4,000 brothers. The number might increase. Their needs will be met. This is a humanitarian mission."Hmmm....4,000?? More like 400 ?



Live updates from Isabel Hunter @ Border 

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