Turkey considers ‘buffer zone’ along Syria border

Thousands of people from conflict-torn Syria are seeking safety in refugee camps in Turkey.

Ankara now says it is considering creating a buffer zone inside Syria to protect fleeing refugees. That prospect is sure to enrage Damascus.

Turkey itself is wary of military intervention that could bring it into conflict with Syria. It has made clear a safe zone would need international backing.

One elderly woman at the Reyhanli refugee camp on the border told euronews that in her Syrian town there are no schools, no food, no electricity and no water. People are being arrested, kidnapped, killed, tortured and raped, she said.

Turkey says it is now hosting around 15,000 Syrian refugees. The Reyhanli site is having to be expanded in order to cope.

Memories are still vivid in Turkey of the massive surge of refugees that arrived from Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Our correspondent Bora Bayraktar says that with the increasing numbers now coming from Syria, there is a continuous effort to create space for new tents.

Facing an uncertain future, many of those who have fled will fear ever returning to their homeland as long as President Assad remains in power.

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