Turkey ready to let in Syrian refugees ‘if necessary’

Turkey said it was ready “if necessary” to let in tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing a major Russian-backed regime offensive, as aid agencies warned Sunday of a “desperate” situation.

Thousands of people, including many women and children, are stranded at the Turkish border after an exodus triggered by fierce fighting near Syria’s second city Aleppo.

“If they reached our door and have no other choice, if necessary, we have to and will let our brothers in,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.

Turkey’s Oncupinar border crossing, which faces the Bab al-Salama frontier post inside Syria, remained closed Sunday to thousands of refugees gathered there for a third day, an AFP reporter said.

They waited desperately for the moment the gate will open, as Turkish aid trucks delivered food inside Syria.

Carrying what few belongings they still have, Syrians queued up in the cold and rain in squalid camps near the Turkish border, waiting for tents being distributed by aid agencies.

Others are reportedly sleeping in the open, in fields and on roads.

The medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said camps for displaced people in the north of Aleppo province were overwhelmed.

“From what MSF can see the situation in Azaz district is desperate, with ongoing fighting and tens of thousands of people displaced,” said Muskilda Zancada, the head of the group’s Syria mission.

“We are still conducting assessments but so far have seen problems with lack of space to accommodate people, and insufficient water and sanitation in many areas.”

– Border closed –
It said three MSF-supported hospitals had been bombed in recent days although the extent of the damage was unknown because their proximity to the frontlines made access too difficult.

More than 260,000 people have died in Syria’s nearly five-year-old conflict, which involves a tangled web of mainstream rebels, Islamists, jihadists, Kurds and pro-regime forces supported by Russia and Iran.

More than half the population has been displaced and hundreds of thousands have tried to reach Europe, sometimes paying with their lives while making the risky Mediterranean Sea crossing.

The European Union on Saturday said it was Ankara’s international obligations to keep its frontiers open to refugees, while also pressing the Turkish government to help stem the flow of migrants to Europe.

A Turkish official said the Oncupinar crossing was “open for emergency situations”.

“Seven injured were taken to Turkey on Friday and one on Saturday for treatment at Turkish hospitals,” he said.

The governor of the Turkish border province of Kilis, Suleyman Tapsiz, said Saturday that Turkey — already home to 2-2.5 million Syrians — was taking care of 30-35,000 refugees who had gathered around the nearby Syrian city of Azaz.

Another 70,000 may head for the frontier if Russian air strikes and Syrian regime military advances continued in Aleppo, he added.

– Food crisis looms –
Syrian government forces backed by intense Russian air strikes have closed in on Aleppo city in their most significant advance since Moscow intervened in September in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Syria’s mainstream rebels are now threatened with collapse after the regime severed their main supply line to Aleppo city.

Opposition forces and roughly 350,000 civilians inside rebel-held parts of Aleppo city face the risk of a government siege, a tactic that has been employed to devastating effect against other former rebel strongholds.

“As supply lines to East Aleppo are nearly cut, MSF is worried about an impending food, water and fuel crisis in the coming weeks,” said Zancada.

Top diplomats from countries trying to resolve the conflict are set to meet again on February 11 after the collapse of peace talks last week.

Syria reacted angrily on Saturday to suggestions that Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which support rebel groups, could send in ground troops, saying “any aggressor will return to their country in a wooden coffin”.

Erdogan meanwhile dismissed Russia’s claims that Turkey was actively preparing to invade Syria, calling Moscow “an invader” that together with Assad was responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians.

Ties between Moscow and Ankara have been in tatters since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border in November, saying it had entered Turkish airspace.