A leading Turkish aid group has set up a temporary tent city to ensure accommodation of more than 1,000 Syrian refugees who fled from Russian air strikes.
The aid group, called the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid,(IHH), has built 200 tents in 24 hours. The tent city currently has the capacity to house 1,000 people.
The NGO is planning to expand the tent city for more, in need, to have safe shelter. During his trip to London, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Thursday that at least 70,000 refugees are expected to cross into the Turkish territory. United Nations, quoting local sources, announced that 15,000 people have escaped from the regions in north of Aleppo.
After escalation of Russian strikes, tens of thousands of Syrian Arab and Turkmen civilians in rural parts of Aleppo left their homeland. The reports said that civilians living in the regions of Dair al-Jamal and Tel Rifaat in northern Syria have completely evacuated the settlement areas.
Over the past three days, more than 50,000 people have reportedly gathered in Azez town, located just across from Kilis city on the Turkish side, according to border officials.
Refugee groups, who massed along the border line with Turkey, have tried to survive by taking shelter under trees. Most of them have reached the Turkish border with only a few belongings. The refugee groups include children and elderly people. They are desperately in need of food, water, safe shelter and medical care.
Once they cross into the Turkish territory in buses and minibuses, the refugees are first taken to a tent city in Yayladağı town, Hatay, for check-up, fingerprinting and registration.
The stream of refugees to the Turkish border accelerated in late January after the Syrian Army took control of rebel-held Rabia, a town in Latakia. An unprecedented number of Turkmens from 70 villages in Bayır-Bucak have arrived at the Turkish border since the fall of Rabia.
The pro-regime offensive, which first began in Gımam village on the Turkmen Mountain on October 20, 2015, turned into a regime victory in the aftermath of Rabia's fall. The recapture of Rabia has resulted in the displacement of Turkmen refugees, who found shelter in Yamadi, located just 400 meters from the Turkish border.
Syrian officials' submission of Latakia's Yamadi town's coordinates to Russian warplanes contributed to the influx of refugees, said reports. Rabia was the last rebel-held town in Latakia. Before the fall of Rabia, the pro-regime troops overran the rebel town of Salma on January 12.
