A massive truck, packed with construction material, passes through the Oncupinar border from Turkey into Syria.
FRANCE 24, 9FEB 2016– Trucks such– many bearing food, medical and other humanitarian supplies – are crossing the Turkey-Syria border, for the moment.
For the tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the latest Russian military offensive around Aleppo, the border remains firmly closed.
Turkey, home to more than two million refugees due to the brutal five year Syrian civil war, is struggling to cope as the displaced stream across its southern border.
“If the objective is to force people out of their homes, we might not have enough resources because the targeted areas are very populated,” explained Kerem Kinik, vice-president of the Turkish Red Crescent.
There are at least eight camps for IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) on the Syrian side of the border. Another one is now being set up for those who fled their homes in the suburbs and countryside around Aleppo, Syria’s most populated city, where Russian bombers aiding Assad’s regime have been conducting a scorched earth offensive in recent days.
For Abduljawad al-Diki, a Syrian refugee on the Turkish side of the border worried sick about loved ones left behind in Syria, the camps are simply not enough.
“There are more than 60,000 people, including women and children [fleeing the Aleppo offensive]. They have managed to escape the bombs and now they are freezing to death.” said a visibly agitated al-Diki.
Muhammed Wacih Cumaa, a Syrian opposition health official, is frustrated by the international failure to help the rebellion against Syrian Bashar al-Assad. “The Russian airstrikes have triggered this situation. The international community can stop this, but there is no will to do so,” said Cumaa.
Merkel ‘appalled’ by the suffering
During a visit to Turkey on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “appalled” by the suffering of the people of Aleppo and firmly blamed the Russian bombing. Merkel said Turkey and Germany would push for all sides to adhere to a UN resolution passed in December that calls for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians in Syria.
Merkel said they will use an upcoming NATO defence ministers’ meeting to discuss “to what extent NATO can be helpful with the surveillance situation at sea” and support the coast guard’s and Frontex’s work.
