70 000 Syrian Kurds flee IS violence, head for Turkey

Syrian Kurds wave the Kurdish flag as they rally against the Syrian regime and to mark Noruz spring festivities in the northern city of Qamishli on March 21, 2012. Noruz marks the spring equinox of the solar year 1390. The United Nation's general assembly in 2010 recognized the International Day of Noruz, describing it as a festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3000 years. AFP PHOTO/STR

ANKARA. — Some 70 000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey since Friday fleeing violence of Islamic State (IS) militants who have seized dozens of Kurdish villages in northern Syria, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said yesterday.
The UNHCR steps up “its response to help Turkey come to the aid of an estimated 70 000 Syrians who crossed into Turkey in the last 24 hours,” the UNHCR said in a statement yesterday, adding that it already delivered 20 truckloads of humanitarian assistance.

“We have opened our doors because we had to,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters on Saturday in the southern province of Sanliurfa, where the refugees have taken shelter.

Turkey is ready to cope with an even larger refugee influx, he added. “As of today, the number of Syrian Kurds who entered Turkey has exceeded 60 000,” he said, expressing hope that “they can go back to their home, their country as soon as possible”.

Turkey opened the frontier to cope with a rush of Syrian civilians on the Syrian border town of Ain al-Arab on Friday.
As of August, Turkey has sheltered about 1,4 million Syrian refugees from Syria. About 220 000 of them were accommodated in 24 refugee camps in Turkey’s 10 provinces. — Xinhua.