Turkey may consider buffer zone at Syrian border

In upcoming days, the number of refugees is expected to increase and related preparations are accordingly underway, head of the Turkish Red Crescent Ahmet Lutfi Akar said yesterday. Stating that 14,000 people are currently staying in seven tent cities which have been set up in Hatay, Akar said that this figure might climb to 500,000 in the forthcoming days. Up to 1,000 Syrian refugees have flocked into Turkey in the last 24 hours, seven generals have defected and the number of refugees fleeing from Syria increased to 14,700 as from yesterday morning. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed governors of border cities to publish capacity inventories. As the Syrian regime increases its crackdown on people, the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Turkey has rapidly climbed. "The number of Syrian refugees boomed and the number of Syrians arriving at the Turkish border is increasing daily and climbed to a total of 14,700," Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said. Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said in a televised interview yesterday that according to the course of developments, the establishment of a buffer zone at the border could be considered.