Turkey says it can’t take more Syrian refugees
Some border gates now closed to Syrians
Two and a half million Syrian refugees have fled into neighboring Turkey. But as Russian airstrikes targeting Aleppo intensify and thousands more flee the rebel stronghold, Turkey on Sunday said it has reached capacity, and some border gates are closed to Syrians. However, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said the country still plans on letting some refugees in, despite the closed gates. The European Union has urged Turkey to reopen its borders and committed $3.3 billion to helping those fleeing the war.
With Russian airstrikes intensifying on the Syrian-rebel stronghold of Aleppo, neighboring Turkey said Sunday it is at capacity to absorb refugees flooding into the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN-Turk television that Turkey, which is hosting 2.5 million Syrians, will continue to let in refugees fleeing the war in Syria. But the border gate at Oncupinar, opposite the Bab-al-Salameh crossing in Syria, remained closed as tens of thousands of Syrians have fled from what had been a rebel stronghold.
“At the moment, we are admitting some, and are trying to keep others there by providing them with every kind of humanitarian support,” said Kurtulmus, adding that 15,000 Syrian refugees were admitted into Turkey in recent days. “We are not in a position to tell them not to come. If we do, we would be abandoning them to their deaths.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes believed to be from Russian aircraft hit villages north of Aleppo on Sunday. Russian intervention on behalf of Syria President Bashar Assad’s regime has helped put Aleppo on the precipice of falling from rebel control.
The Syrian army has almost fully encircled Aleppo preparing the way for a blockade, the Associated Press reports.
Retaking Aleppo, a key commercial center in Syria, would be a critical victory for the regime and the latest in a series of setbacks for opposition forces.
Russia says it began the airstrikes in Syria in September to combat the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, but the Pentagon says the vast majority of the airstrikes have targeted moderate groups that oppose Assad.
The bombardment of Aleppo has undermined recent efforts at peace talks, the Obama administration and allies say. Talks last week to end the war fizzled out in Geneva and are expected to resume later this month. Regime successes have made prospects for a brokered political solution even more remote, since Assad would not be encouraged to make concessions.
Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in Syria and called on the international community to revive negotiations to end the nearly 5-year-old war.
“I am following with strong worry the dramatic fate of the civilian population caught up in the violent combat in Syria and forced to abandon everything to flee the horrors of the war,” Francis told a crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
The European Union on Saturday called on Turkey to open its borders. EU nations have committed $3.3 billion to assist refugees fleeing the war, part of an effort aimed at providing humanitarian aid to refugees while trying to prevent migrants from trying to make their way to Greece and then Europe.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 40,000 people already have been displaced by the ongoing fighting in Aleppo. Turkey said the country is caring for as many as 35,000 people from the Syrian city of Azaz, near the Turkish border, who flooded the area in a space of 48 hours.
“This number is likely to increase in the coming days,” Fadi Hajjar, a Syrian activist with the Aleppo Media Center, told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “Some villages in Aleppo have been completely emptied of people.”
Meanwhile, a senior United Arab Emirates government official said Sunday that his country is prepared to send ground troops to Syria to fight Islamic State militants as part of an international coalition, according to the AP.
“We have been frustrated at the slow pace of confronting Daesh,” said Anwar Gargash, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
The pledge from the UAE comes after Saudi Arabia said it is ready to deploy ground forces if leaders of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group call for it.