Turkey Denies Reports of Attacks on Fleeing Syrian Civilians

Syria’s invasion of the northern Idlib Province has sparked a new exodus of people trying to flee across the border into neighboring Turkey. That border hasn’t exactly been a welcoming one for awhile, and according to Human Rights Watch, has gotten much worse.

In recent weeks, Turkish border troops have been accused of arbitrarily closing the border to asylum seekers, allowing in only the worst medical cases, and in many cases shooting at civilians trying to flee into southern Turkey.

Such reports have come out before, with Turkey trying to deter more refugees and at times turning their guns on crowds to try to scare them away from the border. Turkey, however, is denying that these new reports are true, saying they welcome all refugees.

At least 10 people have been documented as having been killed by Turkish border guard fire into Syria, though the Erdogan government says there has been “no case” of civilians being fired upon at the border.