MORE THAN 1,500 Syrian refugees have streamed across the border to safe havens in Turkey in one day as Syria’s three-month-old pro-democracy movement braced for another day of mass protests on Friday.
The refugees crossed into Turkey on Thursday as Syrian troops backed by tanks pushed to the border in their sweep against the anti-government protests, which have posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar Assad’s rule.
More than 11,700 Syrians are now housed or seeking shelter in Turkish refugee camps, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday. The Syrian opposition says 1,400 people have been killed in a relentless government crackdown on dissent. More demonstrations were planned for Friday after midday prayers.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has warned Damascus to pull its troops back from the Turkish border. She warned that the actions of the Assad government troops could increase the risk of a border clash with Turkey whilst worsening the plight of refugees, BBC News reports.
Syrian soldiers patrolled in military vehicles and on foot around the border village of Khirbet al-Jouz, according to Associated Press. The Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement, said residents reported tanks had entered the village and snipers were spotted on rooftops Thursday.
Syria has banned all but a few foreign journalists and restricted local media, making it nearly impossible to independently confirm the accounts.
Sky News is one of the few foreign media outlets allowed in to the country with its correspondent Jeremy Thompson reporting from inside the key Middle East state.
On Thursday, a stream of refugees poured across the border — some of them glancing behind them as they crossed into Turkey, as though fearful of being chased. The refugees came in a convoy of about 20 minibuses and some rushed on foot across the border, to be met by Turkish soldiers and escorted to nearby camps.
The Syrian army’s operation was the closest Syrian troops had come to Turkey since the military crackdown in the area began two weeks ago as Assad’s forces tried to snuff out the opposition’s chances of gaining a territorial foothold for a wider rebellion.
The army’s main thrust came against the town of Jisr al-Shughour, where armed anti-government resistance flared in early June.
The Syrian regime blames foreign conspirators and thugs for the unrest, but the protesters deny any foreign influence in their movement, during which they say authorities have detained 10,000 people.
On Wednesday, Syria’s foreign minister, Walid Moallem, lashed out at European governments for threatening the new round of sanctions.
In the government’s latest bid to blunt the demonstrations, Moallem also reiterated Assad’s call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy within months — a bold assertion after more than four decades of authoritarian rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.
A skeptical opposition rejected the overture while the Syrian military is occupying towns and shooting protesters.
- with reporting from AP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say