The Turkish government has said it expects the arrival of up to 600,000 Syrian refugees at the Turkish border in the most recent exodus of thousands of Syrians to Turkey, amid increased aerial bombardment in the war-torn country.
Government spokesperson Numan Kurtulmuş said following a Cabinet meeting on Monday that Turkey is closely following military and civilian mobility along its border with Syria. “The worst-case scenario in this region in the near future is the exodus of a new wave of refugee flow of nearly 600,000 to Turkey's border,” he said.
Kurtulmuş said Turkey would care for Syrians outside of Turkey "as much as possible."
He said some 77,000 Syrians are being given assistance in displaced persons camps in Syria along the border with Turkey, including those who arrived recently.
Tens of thousands of Syrians have massed at the Turkish border in recent days, escaping a Syrian government onslaught around the city of Aleppo. Turkey kept the border closed for a fourth day on Monday and it was not clear if the refugees would be allowed in. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said earlier in the day that Turkey will admit the 30,000 people fleeing war-torn Syria who have amassed at the border "when necessary."
At a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Ankara the Turkish prime minister said Russia's air assaults should not be tolerated based on the idea that Turkey will accept the refugees. The latest developments in Syria are an attempt to pressure Turkey and Europe on the migration issue, the prime minister claimed.
