Three million people forced out of Syria
A Syrian Kurdish girl crosses the border between Turkey and Syria near Suruc in Turkey's Sanliurfa province, on September 21, 2014 (AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic)
Three million people forced out of Syria
Three million and Some 130,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the advance of Islamic State militants to crossed the border into Turkey in the past four days, Turkey's deputy prime minister said Monday, warning that the number could rise further as the militants continue their onslaught.
Numan Kurtulmus warned that the number could rise to "a refugee wave that can be expressed by hundreds of thousands."
The refugees have been flooding into Turkey since Thursday, escaping an Islamic State offensive that has pushed the conflict nearly within sight of the Turkish border. The conflict in Syria had already pushed more than a million people over the border in the past 3½ years.
"This is not a natural disaster... What we are faced with is a man-made disaster," said Kurtulmus, adding that Turkey was taking measures to prepare.
(AP)
