Over 60,000 Syrians Fleeing Isıl Enter Turkey

More than 60,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees fleeing escalating ISIL attacks on the border region have entered Turkish territories since Friday, Turkish deputy PM said Saturday.



"The number of Syrian refugees has exceeded 60,000 as of today," he said at a boarding school in the southeastern Sanliurfa province allocated for the flowing refugees.



Turkey opened the frontier Friday to cope with a rush of Kurdish civilians fearing an attack on the Syrian border town of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani in Kurdish.



The Syrian civilians seeking shelter from the ISIL assault on Kobani are being registered at the office of admissions set up by Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Presidency right upon their entry to Turkey.



"We faced hardships by the new wave of refugees, but even the first phase of the process has been well conducted. Thankfully, 60,000 people have been accepted into Turkish borders unharmed," Kurtulmus said.



The minister stated that the Syrians were entering Turkey from eight separate points on the 30 kilometers border region.



Kurtulmus described it as an "instant migration wave" after the seizure of around 20 villages in Kobani area by ISIL militants.



He said that relevant Turkish authorities had taken the necessary measures and that they were ready for the worst scenario.



"There is no other country in the world that can accept nearly 60,000 refugees into their soil in one day," he said.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Şanlıurfa