Posted on 09/21/2014 9:14:08 PM PDT by GonzoII
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish security forces fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of Kurds gathered in solidarity for a third day on the Turkish side of a border crossing with Syria on Sunday, as some 70,000 Syrian Kurds were reported to have fled across the border in just two days to escape Islamic State (IS) militants.
Refugees who had waited days for permission to cross the border to safety complained of suffering, disease and death.
“We have been here for four days without water and food,” said Fidan Mohammad, one of the many who had been waiting to cross. “Our children are dying of hunger... we are humiliated and we are all starving here,” she told Rudaw TV, while clutching an infant.
Tension on the border had led to clashes early Sunday.
“Security forces trying to maintain order fired tear gas and water cannon and some protesters started throwing stones at them in frustration,” Turkey’s Zaman newspaper reported. It said the clash happened on the Turkish side of the barbed-wire border fence near the town of Suruc, where many of the refugees later crossed.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency said it was expecting hundreds of thousands more to arrive in Turkey.
The UNHCR said in a statement late Saturday that an estimated 70,000 Syrians crossed into Turkey within 24 hours on Friday and Saturday, and hundreds of thousands more are expected to arrive over the coming days.
"Turkish government authorities and UNHCR are preparing for the possibility of hundreds of thousands more refugees arriving over the coming days, as the battle for the northern Syrian city of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic) forces more people to flee,” the statement said.
Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported that the refugees had arrived in the Turkish province of Sanliurfa in massive numbers, since a siege and renewed IS assaults on Kobane, which hosts nearly 200,000 internally displaced people, mainly from Syria’s Kurdish minority.
“I commend Turkey’s welcoming response to offer refuge and aid to this population so suddenly and violently driven from their homes in fear for their lives,” said Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Turkey currently hosts at least 847,266 Syrian refugees, according to UN figures.
Salih Muslim, the leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) which controls Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), warned Friday of a humanitarian crisis in Kobane.
He likened the situation to Shingal, the Yezidi town in northern Iraq that was captured by IS last month. Hundreds of Yezidis were reported killed, women were seized as war booty and huge numbers were evicted or forced to flee.
“Our people were slaughtered in Shingal and our women and girls were sold,” Muslim told Sterk TV, which is close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). “Honor is everything. We have been wounded. We still have an opportunity to prevent a repetition in Kobane.”
The PYD leader called on local tribes and the international community to assist the Kurds in Rojava.
Muslim was also quoted saying that Kobane “is facing the fiercest and most barbaric attack in its history.”
More than 60 villages have fallen to the IS near Kobane.
The United States has been involved in airstrikes against IS in Iraq since last month. President Barack Obama said last week the US would not hesitate to strike the radical group in Syria, but attacks there have yet to commence.
The new IS attacks on Kobane follow a siege that left the city without water or electricity and a virtual blockade.
The People’s Protection Units (YPG), which remains isolated because of its links to the PKK, is the strongest military force in Rojava. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, and is vehemently opposed by Turkey.
Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani has called on Kurdish parties and the international community to assist the people of Kobane against the attacks.
“We appeal to all Kurdish forces to put aside their differences and unite to defend the dignity, the land and the lives of the citizens of Kobane,” Barzani said in a statement.
“The defense of the land and the people of Kurdistan is the duty of all of us and would override all other duties.”
Turkey is now controlled by bizarre Islamists who dream of a new caliphate. This NATO ally provides the conduit for ISIS international recruits to enter Syria and the sale of stolen oil to fund ISIS. It has refused the US access to its air bases in the fight against ISIS. The Turks cannot be trusted. Not only should they be booted out of NATO but they should be viewed as a hostile state. Eventually the Kurdish areas of Turkey should be incorporated into an independent Kurdistan.
Not surprised in the least...
You know Obama did all he could to stop ‘the war on terror’ and now, on his watch, there’s more terrorist wars then ever before!
“to assist the people of Kobane against attacks.”
Smells like Kurd spirit!
.....The UNHCR said an estimated 70,000 Syrians crossed into Turkey within 24 hours on Friday and Saturday, and hundreds of thousands more are expected to arrive over the coming days....
Can you see that happening on our Mexican border even more than we see it now! Someone stir up Mexico, besides the cartels, and there’d be a mad rush for the USA in the hundreds of thousands too!
I can just see all this ending up a relocation of populations!
....”The United States has been involved in airstrikes against IS in Iraq since last month”....
Well it sure isn’t working!....and these people are running instead of fighting for their country!
...”warned Friday of a ‘humanitarian crisis’ in Kobane.”....
Take note the Muslims have learned how to use “humanitarian crisis” so the coffers of other nations will flow to them.
Anytime I see this word.. “Humanitarian crisis”.. echoed by any gov. or it’s leader...that’s a huge heads up they’re looking for money they are unwilling to shell out themselves.
For years we’ve had a potential strong ally in the Middle East if we would only support Kurdish independence. Damned if Obama is every going to recognize or even want another ally for the U.S., however. He’s too busy betraying the ones we already have.
No politician has the guts to do what needs to be done. George Bush was the first to screw up when he tried to turn these countries into civilized nations.
Bring our troops home, station on our borders, ban Islam as incompatible with free society, deport all Muslims until Muslim countries become civilized (probably never), and let them kill each other to their heart’s content.
Bring the Christians in Muslim countries here instead of more Muslim “refugees”, or members of the Future Terrorists of America Club, as I call them.
Anyone who wants to enter a civilized country or board a plane has to pet a pig first.
Any act of terror committed against a non-Muslim country will result in a shower of pork products all over those savages.
There are actually a lot of Christian areas in supposedly Muslim countries. These are decreasing rapidly as of late, primarily because our country is being run now by the anti-Christ. The term “Muslim country” is not really accurate, anyway, since the term “country” implies a certain level of civilization which Muslims don’t have. Besides securing our own border, we should be supporting these Christian areas exclusively. Without our support, Muslim areas will naturally devolve into the pig sties they always do.
Turkey rightfully fears they will lose territory in Obama’s plan for the region; that would explain their opposition. They know WE can’t be trusted.
Notice the great press for the Kurds recently (battling ISIS or whatever in Iraq)? Turks see the writing on the wall in that.
Thanks GonzoII.
Support Kurdish independence.
You will embrace this ISIS rebellion. Support it from our lands in the north. I will gain Obama's favor by condemning it and ordering opposed from our lands in the south. Sit down. Stay awhile.
Muslim countries will always be prmitive hell holes. Bring the Middle East Christians here. Let the Muslims kill each other over there, but ban Islam from the US. It is incompatible with a free society.
Deporting every Christian from “Muslim countries” just reinforces the idea that there is such a thing as “Muslim land”. It also implies that everyone born in an Islamic system is doomed to its ideological tyranny and grotesque disregard for human rights. They’re not going to just “kill each other” and rid us of them, they’re going to plague the innocent in whatever land they control.
There is no way to deal with them except to get the innocent out of Muslim countries as much as possible. Let them kill each other over which of their savage sects is the real Islam. What we can’t do is allow Islam here in the US. There is no moderate Islam, and as soon as there are enough of them, they start imposing their rules on everyone else.
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