Yesterday, Turkey closed the main border crossing to northeastern Syria after Turkish troops were attacked by Syrians angry over violence against their compatriots in Turkey, local residents and a Syrian opposition source said.
Turkish police detained 474 people involved in attacks on the Syrian community across the country that took place overnight, Turkish Minister of Internal Affairs Ali Yerlikaya said. The violence began late Sunday.
In the central city of Kayseri, Syrian property, homes, and vehicles were destroyed and set on fire. The violence was sparked by social media posts alleging that a Syrian man had assaulted a female relative. Yerlikaya said the incident is under investigation.
The violence spread to the provinces of Hatay, Gaziantep, Konya, Bursa, and a district in Istanbul, according to Turkey’s intelligence agency MIT. Social media reports indicated that there were injuries among Syrians.
In response, hundreds of angry Syrians took to the streets in several rebel-held cities in northwestern Syria, an area where Turkey has thousands of troops and has established its sphere of influence, preventing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from taking control.
Late Monday, Turkey responded to the unrest by indefinitely closing the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, the main trade and travel route for over three million residents.
Photo: archive
