ANKARA
About 140,000 Syrian refugees arrived in Turkey over the weekend, UN refugee agency said Tuesday, calling for more support for Ankara in its efforts to tackle the exodus.
The number represents all Europe has taken in the three years of Syrian civil war, UNHCR chief spokeswoman Melissa Fleming stressed.
The refugees, mainly Syrian Kurds, were fleeing to Turkey after the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, took over villages around the northern Syrian town of Kobani over the weekend.
Fleming said that the Turkish government together with UNHCR are preparing for the possibility that all inhabitants of Kobani, with a population of 400,000 might flee.
"We do not know if all of these people will flee but we are preparing for that contingency," she said.
Fleming said the situation at the Turkish-Syrian border was stable as of Tuesday morning.
"There were not big lines of people on the other side (Syrian side at the border) and civilians in need of international protection were let in to Turkey."
Turkish authorities are now managing the entry of refugees through two border points in three phases: security checks in order to maintain the civilian character of asylum; health checks, including measles and polio vaccination for very young children; and registration, Fleming said.
Fleming said the UNHCR called on the world to recognize that Turkey has taken in 1.5 million Syrians.
She added that not enough has been done to help Turkey and other neighboring countries.
"The international community needs to do more to help Turkey," she said.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, also said that more than 100 villages in the Kobani region were captured by ISIL.
Colville warned that there is a severe water shortage in the region and "Kobani’s main supply of water came from wells in the towns of Oukhan, Qula and Quneitra, all of which are now under ISIL control."
"Our biggest worry would be if Kobani itself fell," Colville added.
The Syrian civilians seeking shelter from the ISIL assault on Kobani are being registered at the office of admission set up by Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Presidency right upon their entry to Turkey.
The recent flow of refugees are arriving in Turkish province of Sanliurfa after ISIL’s recent attacks and the siege of the northern Syrian town of Kobani and its surrounding villages.
Turkey ready for possible influx of more 100K Syrians
Turkey is prepared for a possible wave of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees escaping ISIL threat, said Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus.
Kurtulmus was speaking after a symposium on Turkish-Japan relations at the center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) - an Ankara-based think tank.
He announced that the latest figure of more than 130,000 Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkish territories since Friday seeking shelter from ISIL attacks in the Kurdish city of Kobani.
"The total population of the said [Kobani] region is over 400,000. We think they have been dispersed to other areas within Syria," said the minister.
The Turkish minister said they had first planned to accommodate the new influx of Syrians running away from ISIL terror on the Syrian side of the border and provide them with humanitarian assistance there.
"But, the humanitarian risks they are facing led us to open the border crossing. I don't mean the border gate. Those people were allowed into Turkey by cutting the wire fences in eight different points in an area of 30 kilometers. Only 70,000 of the Syrians entered in less than 24 hours," he said.
Kurtulmus said an intense refugee flow of hundreds of thousands is possible, for which he argued Turkey is ready.
"All details have been worked out regarding a possible transfer of Syrian refugees to a further and safer location, if necessary," he added.
He said some of the refugees were reunited with their families, and others were sheltered at a local boarding school and in tents that were newly set up in the school yard.
Kurtulmus added that some were also transferred to other tent cities and refugee camps in more central regions in Turkey.
The minister maintained that they were also prepared for the worst case scenario at the meeting they held on Thursday night, before opening the border crossing.
"The worst scenario is if we encounter a wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees. We have made all related preparations, which includes the logistics support, the aids to be supplied by AFAD, and measures to guarantee the refugees' safety," he said.
"As for the Kobani area, we are talking about a vast region that stretches out to 30 kilometers from our border. Generally, the border region of 350 to 400 kilometers is suffering from ISIL threats."
The minister added that the flow of refugees is below the expected figure for now.
He also warned all against any political demonstration against the Kurds coming from Syria's Kobani or any act aiming to obstruct aid efforts in the region.
Kurtulmus said he hopes for an immediate end to the attacks and a return of the displaced people, which he says is only possible if the political conditions in Syria improve.
Turkey opened the frontier Friday to cope with a rush of Kurdish civilians fearing an attack on the Syrian border town of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani in Kurdish, in the Raqqa province.
The Syrian civilians seeking shelter from the ISIL assault on their villages are being registered at a coordination center set up by Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Presidency upon entry to Turkey.
Syrians are entering Turkey via registration center
Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) reported on Monday that Syrian refugees are now entering Turkey via the registration center in Yumurtalik village, in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey.
In a written statement AFAD says that intensive migration - arising from Syrian Civil War - of refugees into Turkey goes on.
In addition AFAD also pointed out, "The border is not closed. Passages are being carried out by the registration center established under coordination of AFAD in Yumurtalik province in a controlled way. Moreover AFAD has studied the every scenario on risk analysis reports and this was one of the scenarios. We are ready for any case."
UN calls on world to help Turkey with refugee crisis
Nearly 140,000 Syrian refugees who arrived in Turkey over the weekend represents the number that all Europe has taken in the three years of Syrian civil war, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR said Tuesday, calling for more support for Ankara in its efforts to tackle the exodus.
The refugees, mainly Syrian Kurds, were fleeing to Turkey after the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, took over villages around the northern Syrian town of Kobani over the weekend.
UNHCR chief spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said that the Turkish government together with UNHCR are preparing for the possibility that all inhabitants of Kobani, with a population of 400,000 might flee.
"We do not know if all of these people will flee but we are preparing for that contingency," she said.
Fleming said the situation at the Turkish-Syrian border was stable as of Tuesday morning.
"There were not big lines of people on the other side (Syrian side at the border) and civilians in need of international protection were let in to Turkey."
Turkish authorities are now managing the entry of refugees through two border points in three phases: security checks in order to maintain the civilian character of asylum; health checks, including measles and polio vaccination for very young children; and registration, Fleming said.
Fleming said the UNHCR called on the world to recognize that Turkey has taken in 1.5 million Syrians.
She added that not enough has been done to help Turkey and other neighboring countries.
"The international community needs to do more to help Turkey," she said.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, also said that more than 100 villages in the Kobani region were captured by ISIL.
Colville warned that there is a severe water shortage in the region and "Kobani’s main supply of water came from wells in the towns of Oukhan, Qula and Quneitra, all of which are now under ISIL control."
"Our biggest worry would be if Kobani itself fell," Colville added.
The Syrian civilians seeking shelter from the ISIL assault on Kobani are being registered at the office of admission set up by Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Presidency right upon their entry to Turkey.
The recent flow of refugees are arriving in Turkish province of Sanliurfa after ISIL’s recent attacks and the siege of the northern Syrian town of Kobani and its surrounding villages.
Click here to see the photos of Syrian refugees crossing into Turkey
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