BEIRUT — Turkey came under mounting pressure to open its border Saturday as tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing a government onslaught sought entry and the European Union called on Ankara to grant them refuge.
As many as 35,000 Syrians have massed along the closed border, according to Suleyman Tapsiz, governor of the Turkish border province of Kilis. He said Turkey would provide aid to the displaced within Syria, but would open the gates only in the event of an “extraordinary crisis.”
The Norwegian Refugee Council said thousands of Syrians have arrived at seven of the main informal camps close to the Turkish border. The group said the camps were already at capacity before the latest influx, and that aid groups are working around the clock to deliver tents and essential items to the displaced.
Filip Lozinski, an NRC supervisor in the area, told The Associated Press that many refugee families were forced to sleep out in the open, some under trees, because they could not find shelter.
At a meeting in Amsterdam between EU foreign ministers and their Turkish counterpart, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urged Turkey to open its borders to “Syrians in need for international protection,” and said the EU is providing aid to Ankara for that purpose.
EU nations have committed $3.3 billion to Turkey for helping refugees as part of incentives aimed at persuading the country to do more to stop thousands of migrants from leaving for Greece.
Turkey already hosts some 2.5 million Syrian refugees.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that his country maintains an “open border policy for these people fleeing from the aggression of the (Syrian) regime as well as airstrikes of Russia.”
He said Turkey had already allowed in more than 5,000 recently displaced Syrians, but did not address the restrictions along the border.
Some of the refugees found shelter in Afrin, a Kurdish enclave to Aleppo’s north controlled by a militia known as the YPG, said a Kurdish official, Idris Naasan. The militia hoped to prevent a humanitarian disaster and help those stuck at the border, he said.
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces have been advancing across the north in recent days behind a curtain of heavy Russian airstrikes, and could soon encircle rebel strongholds in Aleppo, once the country’s largest city and commercial hub. This week alone, Russian warplanes hit close to 900 targets across Syria, including near Aleppo.
Those living in parts of the city held by the rebels since 2012 fear they could be the next victims of siege tactics used across Syria by all sides in the war, which have caused widespread malnourishment and starvation.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem meanwhile said government forces were “on track to end the conflict” following the recent gains around Aleppo.
The advance of Syrian troops and the blistering Russian airstrikes in Aleppo and elsewhere led to the breakdown of indirect peace talks launched earlier this week in Geneva, with the opposition saying there was no point in negotiating under fire.
