Erdogan: Turkey to open its border to Syrian refugees ‘if necessary’

If accepted, refugees fleeing Syrian regime, Russian offensive in Aleppo will join 2-2.5 million already in Turkey

By AFP 7 February 2016, 1:11 pm

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File: Refugee children arrive at the Turkish border crossing gate as Syrians fleeing the embattled city of Aleppo wait on February 6, 2016 in Bab al-Salama, near the city of Azaz, northern Syria. (AFP/Bulent Kilic)

Turkey is ready “if necessary” to let in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees trapped on its border after fleeing a regime assault, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Thousands of Syrians, mostly women and children, have fled toward the Turkish border since Friday from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo to escape a major regime offensive backed by Russian air strikes.

“The regime has now blocked a part of Aleppo… Turkey is under threat,” Erdogan told reporters on his plane returning from Senegal on Saturday.

“If they reached our door and have no other choice, if necessary, we have to and will let our brothers in,” he said.

Refugees push each other as they wait for tents as Syrians fleeing the northern embattled city of Aleppo wait on February 6, 2016 in Bab al-Salama, near the city of Azaz, northern Syria, near the Turkish border crossing. (Bulent Kilic/AFP)

The governor of Turkey’s Kilis border province, 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 in the space of 48 hours.

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

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