Monday 23 July 2012

Turkish police clash with refugees kills two demonstrators


syria


Syrian refugees walk out of the refugee camp in Kilis after clashes with police on July 22, 2012. Turkish police fired tear gas on stone-throwing Syrian refugees who were protesting at the lack of food and water at camps on the border with their conflict-ravaged homeland. (ADEM ALTAN/AFP/GettyImages)

"Kill us!" cried a Syrian woman carrying a baby in her lap, as dozens of gendarmerie forces and police were passing by. "Get rid of us," she shouted.

Police fired tear gas on stone-throwing Syrian refugees who were protesting at the lack of food and water at camps on the border with their conflict-ravaged homeland.



A Turkish official said demonstrations erupted at two of the 10 camps set up along the border which shelter about 40,000 Syrians who have fled the escalating violence at home.

"The clashes were some of the most violent of recent months," the official said.

The unrest flared after Syrian rebel fighters seized a nearby border post after hours of fighting during the night, the third now held held by the anti-regime militants.

"We have had no food for three days," said a young Syrian boy standing outside the container city of Kilis, which is home to some 15,000 people who have taken refuge from President Bashar al-Assad's bloody crackdown.

"We have no water. They give us cards for shopping but we need money, we need weapons to take to our fellow fighters," said Ahmet Abbas.

The Kilis camp lies nearby the Oncupinar border crossing which faces the Al-Salama outpost on the Syrian side, the latest to be seized by the rebels.

"Kill us!" cried a Syrian woman carrying a baby in her lap, as dozens of gendarmerie forces and police were passing by. "Get rid of us," she shouted.

Refugees at the Kilis camp said two demonstrators has been killed but the Turkish official said there was no confirmation of any deaths, although one Turkish policeman was injured.
(Al-Akhbar, AFP)
"After the clashes, many refugees gathered outside the camp, and some were leaving Turkey in their cars, heading back toward the Syrian side of the border."
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