Syrian rebels trained in refugee camps on Turkish border
Ankara (AsiaNews / Bianet) - Fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) leave the Apaydın camp in the southern province of Hatay after daybreak to
cross the border into Syria and fight the Al-Assad regime, only to return back
to the camp toward evening, Abu Hussein,
the commander of an FSA unit. "We are deeply thankful to the Turkish
government and Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan for receiving us with open arms," said Abu Hussein,
who commands about 50 troops.
The
Turkish authorities announced
that the Apaydın camp in Hatay's Antakya
district hosts officers of the Syrian army who deserted the Al-Assad regime and
declared the camp to be an area prohibited to entry on due to reasons of
security. The officials, however, are yet to offer an explanation about the
domestic or international legal foundations on which the camp was established.
Official statements also indicated the inhabitants of the camp were Syrian army deserters, for which reason their names had to remain confidential.
The question of whether the Syrian Army actually has no clue about the identities of its deserting troops or not, however, still continues to linger in the air. As such, questions about the exact difference between residents of the Apaydın camp and the inhabitants of other refugee camps also warrant a reply. Whether all the camp dwellers in Apaydın are of Syrian extraction, of if they also include others coming from countries such as Tunisia, Yemen, Chechnya and Afghanistan is yet another question that needs to be answered.
The
public continues to wonder about the circumstances under which the camp
dwellers cross into Syria through border controls, how many Syrians have come
to Turkey under the status of refugees, how many of them cross the border and
how often.
And what does the government have to say regarding the allegations that these troops go to war into Syria in the morning and arrive back in the camp in Turkey at night? Has Parliament ever taken up the issue of establishing a camp under such a status?
Turkey's sights, therefore, are fixed on the "Apaydın Accomodation Facilities."
Confirmation of military activity
On 27 August, after a delegation of the opposition Republican People Party
(CHP) was denied access to the camp, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish Minister of
Foreign Affairs said: "Civilian and military refugees have different statuses. The [refugees']
approval is also required to enter military encampments. It is normal for those
taking refuge as security forces to be subject to special treatment. " Even
Bulent Arinc, the deputy prime minister, said that there are Syrian army
deserters and their families in the camp and to protect their lives, access has
been denied to politicians, but also to generals and colonels. Hatay
Governor Celalettin Lekesiz also echoed the deputy prime minister's
statement and said Syrian soldiers and their families fleeing from Al-Assad had
taken refuge in the camp. " News reports indicating that Syrian rebels are
receiving training in the Apaydın camp, and that Syrians are in control
[there,] are out of line with reality," the head of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Emergencies
(Afad) said in a statement.
Survival means crossing
the border with Turkey
Abu
Hussein, however, confirms that "there is military training in the camp where we
are staying at, but the Turkish government does not allow us to roam about with
arms." "We come and leave Turkey on a
daily basis. We are staying at a tent camp right across the other side of the
border. [We] go to war in the morning and return to the camp toward evening. We
can cross the border with no difficulty." "Turkey - said
Hussein - provides
logistical support for us. Turkey
is covering for our needs of food, drinks and medicine. We are also receiving
aid from other countries, too. Our current goal is to form a buffer zone in
İdlib, which is an area close to the border. " " The Syrian Army besieged us on the Syrian side
three days ago", he adds. "We made it alive by crossing into
the Turkish side of the border. If the regime falls, then we want to build a
free country. We want to establish a system like in Turkey".
*
Courtesy of Turkish website Bia
News Center
(http://bianet.org/english )
30/11/2022 14:42