10,000-Strong Syrian Refugee Backlog at Turkish Border

More than 200,000 Syrians have fled the savage civil war ripping apart their homeland this year. Now 10,000 are waiting to enter Turkey.

By ChanaYa’ar

First Publish: 9/6/2012, 12:45 PM

Young Syrian refugee on his way to Turkey

Reuters

 

More than 200,000 Syrians have fledthe savage civil war ripping apart their homeland over the past year, with 10,000 waiting to enter Turkey.

Over the past month alone, at least 100,000 fled the country, according to the United Nations – comprising 40 percent of the total number of refugees since the conflict began.

Up to now, more than 80,000 Syrians have been absorbed in Turkey’s southeastern region, where tensions have simmered for decades with its minority Kurdish population.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced last month a decision by Ankara that the country would cap its hospitality to Syrian refugees at 100,000.

All nine Turkish refugee camps along the border at this point are full, and authorities have been scrambling to build four more in order to hold the remaining 20,000 refugees the country is willing to accept.

Meanwhile, at least 10,000 of those are still stuck on the Syrian side of the border, with Turkey’s Red Crescent organization providing services while they wait to cross over.

One official added that Turkey has tightened its criteria for acceptance as well, and is carrying out more stringent security checks on those entering the country, in order toscreen out potential Kurdish rebels who might add to Ankara’s headaches with Kurdish separatists.

In addition, there are concerns that foreign radical Islamist jihadists may be using the porous Turkish border to move in and out of Syria as well.

SOURCE

Tags: Syrian civil war ,Turkey ,Kurdish ,Ankara

At Least 8 Killed in Southeastern Turkey Car Bombing

At least eight people were killed and 50 were wounded Monday night when a car bomb exploded near a police station in southeastern Turkey.

IsraelNationalNews

By Chana Ya’ar

First Publish: 8/20/2012, 10:54 PM

 

Turkish military convoy in Gaziantep province near Syrian border

Reuters

 

At least eight people were killed and dozens of others wounded Monday night in Turkey after a car exploded in the southeastern town of Gaziantep.

The car was apparently was packed with a bomb and was set off byremote control, officials said. It was situated near the Gaziantep police station when it exploded, according to Turkish media.

According to a report broadcast onNTV television, as many as 50 people were wounded in the blast.

The bombing came as people were celebrating the second of the two-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack.

The PKK Kurdish terrorist group is active in the region, and violence is not uncommon. The battle between Turkey’s government and Kurdish separatists in the country’s southeastern region has recently intensified.

Earlier this month, a member of parliament –  himself of Kurdish descent — was for the first time kidnapped by Kurdish rebels and held for several days. The lawmaker, Huseyin Aygun, a member of the CHP opposition party, was finally released unharmed.

The town and province of Gaziantep is located near the Syrian border and is a center for Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war ignited in March 2011 by the region-wide “Arab Spring” uprisings.

At present, some 70,000 Syrian refugees have taken shelter in the country as rebels continue their efforts to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The United Nations and various human rights organizations have estimated that more than 20,000 Syrians have died at the hands of government forces since the civil war began.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday his country would cap the number of refugees from Syria at 100,000. Davutoglu recommended the United Nations set up a buffer zone within Syria to care for refugees. The U.N., he said, had the authority under international law to establish refugee camps in safe zones it establishes, even within Syrian territory.

Tags: Gaziantep ,Syria ,Turkey ,Huseyin Aygun ,PKK ,Kurds ,car bomb

Anonymous Invades Turkish Police, Intelligence Websites

International hacking organization Anonymous crashed websites belonging to the Turkish police and intelligence Thursday.

 IsraelNationalNews

By Rachel Hirshfeld

First Publish: 7/19/2012, 5:18 PM

Websites

Reuters

International hacking organization Anonymous crashed websites belonging to the Turkish police and intelligence Thursday in a show of support for the socialist RedHackgroup, Hurriyet daily news reported.

The website www.egm.gov.tr, which belongs to the Turkish Police Directorate, was rendered inaccessible, while the website of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT), www.mit.gov.tr, could be accessed but subpages could not load.

RedHack announced on its Twitter account that Anonymous had taken down the websites to support the socialist group, which was identified as a terroristorganization by authorities after it hacked into the Turkish Foreign Ministry servers, revealing the identities of foreign diplomatic personnel working in Turkey.

Anonymous started the hashtag #OpSupportRedHack on Twitter, announcing it was targeting Turkish government websites in a show of “solidarity” with RedHack.

American Soldiers Attacked in Southern Turkey

Seven Turks attacked American soldiers Wednesday and attempted to put bags over their heads in the southern province of Antalya.

 IsraelNationalNews

By Rachel Hirshfeld

First Publish: 7/18/2012, 9:22 PM

US Navy

Reuters

Seven Turks attacked American soldiers Wednesday and attempted to put bags over their heads in the southern province of Antalya, Hurriyetdaily news reported.

The attackers, members of the Turkish Youth Association (TGB), verbally attacked the American soldiers, who reportedly had left anaircraft carrier anchored to a port in Antalya as they went on land to shop.

Police intervened and detained the seven men during the incident. The men were later released.

A group of TGB members gathered in front of the police station to protest their detention.

A group member said they initiated the provocation in response to the deaths of two Turkish soldiers who were killed when a Turkish jet was downed off the coast of Syria June 22, the daily reported.

Syria May Have Mistaken Turkish Jet for Israeli One

The downing of a Turkish fighter plane by Syria may have been a case of mistaken identity, a Syrian minister says amid rising tensions.

 IsraelNationalNews

By Gabe Kahn

First Publish: 6/27/2012, 10:09 PM

Israeli F-16i (Illustration Only)

flash 90

A Syrian minister on Wednesday was quoted as saying his country’s forces may have mistaken the Turkish plane they shot down for an Israeli one.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi told the Turkish news channel A Haber in a telephone interview that Damascus did “not want a crisis between Turkey and Syria.”

Al-Zoebi said Turkish and Israeli fighter jets were mostly US-made, which may have led the Syrian forces to mistake it for an Israeli jet.

However, military observers note that Israel retired its last F-4 Phantom jet – the type of jet shot down by Syria –- in 2004.

Turkey warned Syria on Tuesday to keep its troops away from the countries’ troubled border or risk an armed response, an angry reply to the downing of the Turkish reconnaissance plane last week.

The warning came after Turkey deployed its own forces along its Syrian frontier on Wednesday.

However, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly stated on Wednesday that Ankara had no intention of attacking Syria.

The statement was a clear drawing back from bellicose rhetoric earlier in the week, wherin Erdogan clearly defined Syria as an enemy and warned of consequences over the downing of the Turkish jet.

Analysts say both nations, former allies whose relations have progressively soured as Syrias ongoing ‘Arab Spring’ revolt has drawn out, are seeking ways to reduce potentially dangerous tensions.

UN officials say Syrian president Bashar al-Assad‘s bloody crackdown on the now-16 month popular uprising against his regime has killed some 10,000 people, mostly civilians.

Diplomats, however, say the actual number is likely much higher.

Meanwhile, UN special envoy Kofi Annan has invited the five major powers – Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States – as well as Turkey, the European Union, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar to a round-table discussion on the Syria crisis.

The call came just one day after Assad told his newly sworn on cabinet that Syria was at war with its own citizens.

“When we’re in a state of war, all of our politics has to be concentrated on winning this war,” he said of the popular-uprising-turned-civil-war rocking Damascus.

NATO hopes Syrian downing of Turkish jet will not escalate

« Breaking News »

DEBKAfile June 26, 2012, 12:59 PM (GMT+02:00)

The NATO meeting Tuesday was requested by Turkey after Syrian air defense batteries shot down a military jet, which Ankara claimed was on an unarmed training mission. Turkey did not ask the alliance for a military response, although its deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc said the shooting down of the plane “would not go unpunished.”

Furious Turkey mobilizes tanks, troops to Syrian border

 

Erdogan slams ‘murderous’ Assad, warns Damascus that rules of engagement have changed following downing of its jet

By ILAN BEN ZION and HILLARY ZAKEN and AP

The Turkish military mobilized large numbers of reinforcements from its eastern provinces to the Syrian border on Tuesday, amid rising tension with Damascus, after the downing by Syria of a Turkish Air Force jet on Friday, Turkish media reported.

Large numbers of Turkish troops — including at least 15 long-range artillery pieces and tanks – moved to the Syrian frontier from the eastern city of Diyarbakir. A video published by the Turkish Cihan News Agency showed Turkish tanks being transported by carrier trucks toward the frontier.

Map

Satellite

The mobilization followed statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Turkish military will respond to any future violation of its border by Syrian military elements.

“As awe-inspiring as Turkey’s friendship is, Turkey’s wrath is equally awe-inspiring,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament on Tuesday.

“The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed,” Erdogan said. “Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria posing a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target.”

Erdogan closed his remarks with an especially harsh condemnation of Syrian President Bashar Assad: “Turkey and the Turkish people will continue to provide all support until the people of Syria have been saved from this tyrannical, murderous, bloody dictator and his gang.”

Opposition sources in Syria reported at least 86 civilians were killed by Assad troops on Tuesday.

The father of one of the two missing pilots who were shot down in Friday’s incident told Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News that he opposed Turkey going to war over his son.

“It is not appropriate for a country to go to war over a pilot, an airplane or 50 airplanes,” Ali Erton said. He said he was aware of the risks his son took as a military pilot, but added “what matters is that my son serves his country.”

NATO’s North Atlantic Council condemned Tuesday Syria’s downing of the Turkish jet on Friday, but did not recommend military action for the act, as Ankara has requested.

At an emergency meeting, requested by Turkey and chaired by NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the council clearly denounced Syria’s aggression “in the strongest terms,” calling the shooting down of a Turkish jet over the Mediterranean “unacceptable.”

“It is another example of the Syrian disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life,” said the NATO chief, expressing his solidarity with Turkey, but making no mention of retaliatory action.

During the meeting, Turkey briefed the North Atlantic Council on the downing Friday of its unarmed RF-4E reconnaissance jet over the Mediterranean Sea. It crashed into the sea a mile inside international waters. The two pilots are still missing.

The discussions were held under Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which allows a NATO member, in this case Turkey, to request consultations if its security has been threatened, officials and diplomats said.

Turkey had asked the meeting be held under article 5, which stipulates an attack on any member country is an attack on all of NATO.

Rasmussen said NATO was following the situation closely. “I certainly expect that such an incident will not happen again,” he said.

The secretary-general has also repeatedly said that the alliance would need a clear international mandate, and regional support, before it embarked on a mission in Syria. Last year, NATO launched air attacks on Libyan government targets only after receiving a mandate from the UN Security Council, along with backing from the Arab League.

Syria said the downing was an accident, caused by the “automatic response” of an officer commanding an anti-aircraft position who saw an unidentified jet flying at high speed and low altitude.

But Erdogan said Syria shot down the unarmed plane in international airspace in a “deliberate” and “hostile” act and without warning. He said border violations in the region were not uncommon and that Syrian helicopters violated Turkish airspace five times recently, without Turkish response.

On Monday, Turkey revealed that a search and rescue plane sent to find the downed recon jet had been shot at as well, but did not crash.

The downing of the jet has aggravated tense ties between the two neighbors. Turkey has repeatedly called on Assad to step down as 33,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Turkey, fleeing a government crackdown on a popular uprising.

In Syria’s case, the Arab League hasn’t been able to agree on the need for military intervention. And Russia and China — both veto-wielding members of the Security Council — have consistently shielded Assad’s regime from international sanctions over its violent crackdown on protests. They have called on neighboring countries to refrain from provocative actions that could spark a wider war.

Turkey PM Erdogan issues Syria border warning

Posted by BBC

Syria has become an “open threat” to Turkey, PM Erdogan says

Continue reading the main story

Syria Conflict

• Rebel tactics evolve
• Turkey seeks diplomacy not war
• UN mission at crossroads
• Russia stands by Assad

Turkey says its military rules of engagement have changed after Syria shot down a Turkish plane that strayed into its territory.

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament that if Syrian troops approached Turkey’s borders, they would be seen as a military threat.

Meanwhile Nato has expressed its condemnation of Syria’s attack as well as strong support for Turkey.

Syria insists the F-4 Phantom jet was shot down inside Syrian airspace.

The plane crashed into the eastern Mediterranean and its two pilots are missing.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting has been reported between the Syrian army and rebel forces in the suburbs of the capital Damascus.

Witnesses say it is some of the most intense violence in the area since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began more than a year ago.

Continue reading the main story

Turkish account

• Friday 22 June, early morning: F-4 leaves Erhac Nato airbase
• Flies over Hatay province (Turkey)
• 11:42 GMT: mistakenly enters Syrian airspace near Latakia at 200ft (61m) at 300 knots
• 11:47: leaves after Turkish radar operator warning – no Syrian warning
• 11:56: radio contact lost: hit 13 nautical miles from Syrian coast at 7,400ft by heat-seeking guided laser missile
• 11:58 crashes into the sea

In other developments on Tuesday:

• The head of UN peacekeeping operations, Herve Ladsous, said the monitoring mission in Syria would remain suspended because of mounting violence.
• Russia said its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would attend an international conference on Syria in Geneva on 30 June

Mr Erdogan spoke of Turkey’s “rage” at the decision to shoot down the F-4 Phantom on 22 June and described Syria as a “clear and present threat”.

“A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack,” he said. The Turkish jet was on a training flight, testing Turkey’s radars in the eastern Mediterranean, he said.

He made it clear that Turkey was adopting a “common sense” attitude, although that “shouldn’t be perceived as a weakness”.

“Every military element approaching Turkey from the Syrian border and representing a security risk and danger will be assessed as a military threat and will be treated as a military target,” he said.

Turkey requested a meeting of the alliance’s ambassadors in Brussels after invoking Article 4 of Nato’s founding treaty, which entitles any member state to ask for consultations if it believes its security is threatened.

In a statement, the alliance’s 28 members said the shooting down of the plane was “unacceptable” and they stood together with Turkey “in the spirit of strong solidarity”.

Continue reading the main story

Syrian account

• 11:40 GMT Friday: F-4 flew at 100m (330 ft) altitude, 1-2km (0.6m-1.2m) from Syrian coast
• Surprise meant no time to give warning
• Anti-aircraft gun shot it down in Syrian waters with fire of maximum range of 2.5km
• Radar-guided missile not deployed
• Tail wreckage shows it was hit by anti-aircraft fire

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: “It is another example of the Syrian authorities’ disregard for international norms. Nato allies will remain seized of developments.”

Earlier, in a letter to the UN Security Council, Turkey described the shooting down of its reconnaissance plane as a “hostile act” and “a serious threat to peace and security in the region”.

Turkey has also accused its neighbour of firing on a search and rescue plane looking for the F-4 Phantom jet, although it was not brought down.

Relations between the two countries were already highly strained before the F-4 was shot down.

Mr Erdogan has been outspoken in his condemnation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose government he accuses of brutally putting down opposition protests.

In Syria itself, opposition activists on Tuesday reported fierce fighting near Republican Guard positions in suburbs of Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP news agency that fierce fighting had broken out in Qadsaya and al-Hama, around 8km (5 miles) from the centre of the city. The UK-based organisation also said security forces had entered the Barzeh area of Damascus.

It said 10 people had been killed by shelling in Qadsaya and some 58 people had died in violence across Syria – 24 soldiers, 30 civilians and four rebels.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Nato considered the attack “unacceptable”

Syrian state TV reported that dozens of “terrorists” had been killed in al-Hama and many others taken prisoner, including some non-Syrian Arab nationals.

The Observatory and the Free Syrian Army also said there had been reports of a military helicopter being shot down in Idlib, but gave no details.

The reports cannot be verified.

Fighting was also reported in the old city of Homs where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) last week tried unsuccessfully to arrange the evacuation of civilians. The ICRC said on Tuesday it was returning to the city for a fresh attempt.

Alleged flightpath of downed Turkish F-4 Phantom

1. F-4 Phantom takes off from Erhac airbase, Turkey, at approximately 10:28 local time (07:28 GMT), on 22 June

2. Syria says the jet enters its airspace at 11:40 (08:40 GMT)

3. Turkish military loses contact with the plane at 11:58 (08:58 GMT), while it is over Hatay province

4. Syria says its air defences engaged aircraft about 1km (0.5 nautical miles) from the coast and that it crashed into the sea 10km (5 nautical miles) west of Om al-Tuyour. Turkey says the plane was 24km (13 nautical miles) from Syria, which under international law is considered international airspace

Tinderbox: Syria warns NATO over action against Turkish plane- Turkey promises ‘decisive’ response

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

June 25, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST - Syria described its shooting down of a Turkish warplane as an act of self-defense and warned Turkey and its NATO allies against any retaliatory measures. In shell-shattered districts of Homs, heart of a 16-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, rebels battled troops as aide workers tried to evacuate civilians. Turkish television reported the desertion of a Syrian general and other officers across the border. Syria’s account of Friday’s shooting down, though tempered with commitment to a “neighborly relationship,” seemed likely to further anger Ankara, which has summoned a NATO meeting on Tuesday over what it calls an unprovoked attack in international air space. “NATO is supposed to be there to strengthen countries,” Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a Damascus news conference. “If their meeting is for hostile reasons (they should know that) Syrian land and waters are sacred.” Turkey says the wreckage of the aircraft, shot down close to the Mediterranean maritime borders of both states, is lying in deep water. Makdissi said some flotsam had been found and turned over to Turkey. There was no word on the two airmen. “The plane disappeared and then reappeared in Syrian airspace, flying at 100 meters altitude and about 1-2kms (0.6-1.2 miles) from the Syrian coast,” he said. “We had to react immediately, even if the plane was Syrian we would have shot it down. The Syrian response was an act of defense of our sovereignty carried out by anti-aircraft machinegun which has a maximum range of 2.5 km.” In Ankara, Turkish air force chiefs briefed both President Abdullah Gul, the commander of the armed forces, and the cabinet on what Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said would be a “decisive” response. Turkey also said it would take the matter to the United Nations Security Council. –Reuters

The Exodus: Dozens of members of Syria’s military defected to Turkey overnight with their families, a Turkish official said Monday, at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries over Syria’s downing of a Turkish military plane. The state-run Anadolu news agency said 33 soldiers crossed into Turkey overnight and the group — 224 people in all — included a general and two colonels. A government official, however, said the group included three colonels and there was no general among them. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, did not know the overall number of defectors and the two accounts could not immediately be reconciled. The defections come three days after Syria shot down a Turkish aircraft it said had violated its air space, further fraying relations between the two countries that were once allies. Nato-member Turkey said the plane had unintentionally strayed into Syria’s air space, but was inside international airspace when it was brought down. It has insisted the jet was on a training flight to test Turkey’s radar capabilities and was not spying on Syria. Turkey has summoned a Nato meeting Tuesday to discuss the incident, revoking article 4 of Nato’s founding treaty which allows an ally to request consultations whenever it feels its security is threatened. Anadolu said the group of defectors was placed in a refugee camp in Hatay, a province bordering Syria but there was no further information. Turkey is hosting some 33,000 Syrians who have crossed into Turkey to find refuge from the 15-months old violence. –Gulf News

Syria shoots down Turkish warplane: al-Manar TV

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

June 22, 2012 – TURKEY - Syria shot down a Turkish warplane on Friday, Lebanon’s al-Manar television reported, risking a new crisis between Middle Eastern neighbors already at bitter odds over a 16-month-old revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “Syrian security sources confirmed to a Manar correspondent in Damascus that Syrian defense forces shot down the Turkish fighter jet,” the Hezbollah-owned channel said. Turkey, which had drawn close to Syria before the uprising against Assad, became one of the Syrian leader’s fiercest critics when he responded violently to pro-democracy protests inspired by popular upheavals elsewhere in the Arab world. Ankara has previously floated the possibility of setting up some kind of safe haven or humanitarian corridor inside Syria, which would entail military intervention, but has said it would undertake no such action without U.N. Security Council approval. Turkey said it had lost contact with one of its military aircraft off its southeastern coast, and a television station said it had crashed in Syrian territorial waters. CNN Turk television said Turkey was in contact with the Syrian authorities to get permission to conduct a search for the airmen, although there was no immediate official confirmation. Turkey’s military said a search and rescue operation was under way. It lost radar and radio contact with the plane after it left Erhac airport in the eastern province of Malatya. Two crew were aboard the F-4 jet, Turkish state news agency Anatolia said, citing Malatya governor Ulvi Saran.Hurriyet daily newspaper reported that the plane had gone down in international waters and that the two airmen had been found alive and well by Turkish forces. –Reuters