ISIS Onslaught in Syria Forces 100,000 Refugees into Turkey
19 October 2018 19:11 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The armed onslaught by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militias - which now goes by the name Islamic State (IS) or Daulah Islamiyah (DI) - in northern Syria has forced more than 100,000 civilians to seek refuge in Turkey in the past three days.
A report by Daily Sabah, which quoted a statement made by the head of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), Fuat Oktay, on Monday, September 22, 2014, said that this is the biggest influx of refugees into Turkey since the civil war began in Syria three years ago.
According to BBC, Turkey - which shares a land border with Iraq and Syria - has received around 847,000 refugees since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began three years ago.
Turkey has indeed opened its' 30 kilometre-long border since Friday, September 19, 2014 for Syrian refugees fleeing the Kurdish-Syrian town of Kobane, following the outbreak of armed conflict between ISIS forces and Kurdish fighters.
According to AFAD's data, the amount of incoming refugees has steadily risen since Friday, when 45,000 Syrians crossed the border into Turkey. The number rose to 65,000 on Saturday, before rising again to 100,000 on Sunday.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | DAILY SABAH | BBC