“Clashes
happened on Sunday at the Turkish-Syrian border as Turkish security
troops fired tear gas and water cannons on Syrian Kurd refugees
trying to flee the onslaught of Islamic State militants.”
“Amid
the clashes, Turkish authorities temporarily closed the border,
through which at least 70,000 people have fled the violence in
Syria this week.”
“There
were conflicting reports on what triggered the clashes. The state-run
Anadolu Agency said the Kurds started throwing stones at the security
forces trying to keep out a large group of Kurdish onlookers. Private
NTV television said the group wanted to transport aid to Syrian Kurds
on the other side of the border.”
“The
altercations happened after the Kurdish militant Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) called on young Turkish Kurds to take up arms and go to
Syria to help Kurds against IS attacks. The PKK has fought for
secession from Turkey for three decades and is considered a terrorist
organization by Ankara.”
“According
to estimates by the UN’s refugee agency, at least 70,000 Kurds,
most of them women, children and elderly people, have fled to Turkey
since Saturday alone. The total number of refugees may be as high as
100,000.”
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