But the crossing remained closed to the tens of thousands of refugees sheltering in camps on the Syrian side of the border.
Advertisement
Germany and Turkey made the controversial proposal that the alliance should become involved in stemming Europe’s refugee influx after crisis talks in Ankara between Ms Merkel and Turkish leaders on 8 February.
The U.N. humanitarian office OCHA said 300,000 people could be cut off from aid if the Syrian government and allied forces encircle the city of Aleppo and deprive those fleeing from their last way out.
Aleppo has been divded between government and rebel control for years.
A suicide vehicle bomber dispatched by the Islamic State group struck near a police officers’ club in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and destroying a number of cars.
“Our objective for now is to keep this wave of migrants on the other side of Turkey’s borders as much as is possible, and to provide them with the necessary services there”, Kurtulmus said.
“The solution to the refugee crisis is via the return of security to Syria, and I am confident that the majority of Syrians dream of returning to their country”, she said.
Russian airstrikes have recently forced some 40,000 people to flee their homes in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, Anadolu Agency reported Tuesday. “But we are making every effort to get enough food in place for all those in need, bringing it in through the remaining open border crossing point from Turkey”.
More than 30,000 people are trying to escape fighting in Aleppo province as Syrian government forces, also backed by Hezbollah and Iranian troops, push into opposition-controlled areas. Some 98 States are party to a convention banning their use but several countries – including Syria and Russian Federation, as well as the U.S., China and Israel – have not signed onto the ban.
DAMASCUS: Damascus aims to secure Syria’s border with Turkey and recapture the city of Aleppo with its latest military offensive, a top adviser to President Bashar al-Assad said on Tuesday. It said more than 20,000 people from Tafas town have fled to the surrounding countryside.
Aleppo the commercial and industrial heart in Syria, has been about broken up since 2012, together with the authorities commanding rebel factions and the western half holding the east.
He warned that Russian Federation would eventually retreat from Syria in “embarrassment” – in a similar manner to the Soviet forces who once pulled out of Afghanistan.
“The capacity of Turkey to help and receive refugees is not unlimited”.
The Turkish government supports Syria’s territorial integrity but Turkey is nevertheless ready and vigilant against the threat of any attack coming from Syrian territory, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on Monday.
The Russian-backed government assault around Aleppo, as well as advances further south, helped torpedo the first peace talks for almost two years.
The SANA news agency says the blast went off near a vegetable market in the northern neighborhood of Masaken Barzeh.
Advertisement
“It’s the first time since 2013 that the Syrian regime has been this close to the Turkish border in Aleppo province”, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
