Turkey Takes İn 45,000 Syrian Kurds İn One Day

Turkey has accepted tens of thousands of Kurdish refugees fleeing an ISIL assault on their villages on the other side of the Syrian border, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.



Around 45,000 Kurds entered Turkey's south-eastern Sanliurfa and Gaziantep provinces on Friday.



Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara on Saturday: "Turkey had been ready for an even worse-case scenario: a flow of up to 100,000 people.



"After Turkey opened the border gates, 45,000 Syrian Kurds entered through eight checkpoints from Akcakale to Mursitpinar, just across [the border] from Kobani. We accommodated them in the newly-built tents near the border."



He added: "In no other place in the world, no country, regardless how good their economic conditions are, could accommodate some 45,000 refugees at one time. This shows the strength and good intentions of Turkey."



Turkey opened the frontier 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.



Turning to the amount of humanitarian aid that Turkey provides in Syria and to Syrian refugees, he highlighted Turkey's position as the world's third biggest aid donor.



He blamed the international community's inaction over the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad as a cause of ISIL violence in the country.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara