Damascus, Feb 7: The number of Syrians trying to cross into Turkey amid an upsurge of fighting in northern Syria has nearly doubled, a Turkish official said on Sunday.
The governor of the Turkish border province of Kilis said 35,000 refugees had reached the border area – up from an estimated 20,000 on Friday.
Turkey says it is prepared to help the refugees but the frontier remains shut.
They are fleeing a Syrian government offensive on rebel-held positions near the northern city of Aleppo.
In the past few days, the Syrian army – backed by Russian air strikes – has made a series of gains around Syria’s largest city.
In other developments, about 120 fighters on both sides were killed around the town of Ratyan, north of Aleppo, on Friday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Syrian FM Walid al-Moualem warns the country will resist any intervention and the aggressors would be sent home “in coffins”, in a what is seen as a reference to Saudi Arabia’s statement that it may join such an operation
Nato accuses Russia of “undermining” Syrian peace efforts – including the suspended talks in Geneva – through its strikes, a claim denied by Moscow
Russia and Turkey trade accusations of preparing an invasion in Syria
Kerry calls on Russia to stop Syria bombing, implement ceasefire
Washington, Feb 7: Secretary of State Kerry said here on Saturdaythat Russia’s bombing campaign was killing women and children in large numbers.
It “has to stop,” he said during a joint news conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Kerry claimed both Moscow and Tehran were prepared for a ceasefire.
“Russia has indicated to me very directly they are prepared to do a ceasefire,” Kerry said.
“The Iranians confirmed in London just a day and a half ago they will support a ceasefire now,” he added.
“We will have a much better sense in the next few days of how serious each party is,” he added. “The Russians have made some constructive ideas about how a ceasefire in fact could be implemented,” he added. “But if it’s just talk for the sake of talk in order to continue the bombing, nobody is going to accept that.”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest mirrored Kerry’s stronger line against Russia following months of attempts to cooperate with Moscow and find a solution to the Syrian conflict.
Earnest said: “There is no denying that the efforts of the Russian military to buck up and strengthen the Assad regime’s grip on power only gives the Assad regime less of an incentive to come to the negotiating table and act constructively in conversations there.”
Washington had previously accused Moscow of being “partly” responsible for the lack of progress at the Geneva peace talks this week.
