Turkish border guards shot and killed at least 11 Syrian civilians Sunday as they attempted to enter Turkey illegally, three Syrian anti-government monitoring groups said, underscoring how difficult it has become to flee the war-torn country.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in an emailed statement that reports alleging Turkish security forces fired on Syrian civilians trying to illegally cross the border “do not reflect the truth.”
“Our security forces are acting within a completely legal framework while intervening on border incidents and illegal crossing attempts,” Mr. Bilgic said.
The Syrians allegedly came under fire on the final leg of what has become an arduous trek through the mountains separating Syria and Turkey, one of the few smuggling routes still operating after a crackdown on refugees by Turkey made the border nearly impenetrable. Smugglers command hundreds of dollars per person for the journey.
The smuggling route is in northwest Syria, starting from Idlib province, far from the Turkish military’s recent operations against Islamic State militants on the Syrian side of the border.
Many of those said to be killed and injured were women and children. In video purportedly taken in the aftermath of the shootings and released online by Syrian activists a woman cradled a wounded baby girl and asked for someone to treat the child. When she is told the girl is dead, she begins to scream. The video couldn’t be independently verified.
Turkey has gradually clamped down on what was once an easily-traversed border after it came under pressure from Western nations demanding that the country stem both the tide of foreign fighters crossing the frontier and Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Europe.
In the past two years, Turkey has dug miles of deep trenches, built tall concrete walls and increased the presence of armed guards and soldiers along the 565-mile-long border.
Syrian human rights groups allege that since last year, dozens of people have been killed and injured by Turkish border guards as a result of the crackdown. Turkish officials have said their efforts target smugglers and terrorist threats, including from Islamic State.
Hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees has also taken a domestic toll. Under a deal between Ankara and Brussels, the European Union has promised €6 billion in assistance for helping Syrians in Turkey.
“Turkey provides humanitarian assistance to displaced persons in northern Syria and follows an open-door policy—which means we admit refugees whose lives are under imminent threat,” said the senior Turkish official. Few are able to cross the border legally and once-active smuggling routes have become increasingly dangerous. Syrians traveling to Turkey from a third country have also been required since this year to get a visa or special permission at Turkish border crossings to enter the country. Visas are difficult to acquire, according to Syrians.
Human Rights Watch in May released a report accusing Turkish soldiers of regularly shooting and beating Syrian refugees fleeing the country’s five-year conflict and terror group Islamic State, which is active along parts of the border. Earlier this year, Turkish soldiers killed five Syrians and seriously wounded 14, the rights group said. In April, Turkey denied allegations that it was shooting at Syrian civilians escaping Islamic State.
Amnesty International reported in April that for months, Turkish authorities in the country’s southern provinces have been rounding up and deporting groups of men, women and children back to Syria on a near-daily basis. Turkey denied the allegations.
By: Raja Abdulrahim (The Wall Street Journal).
Photo: Hurriyet Daily News.
By: Raja Abdulrahim (The Wall Street Journal).
Photo: Hurriyet Daily News.
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