ALTINOZU REFUGEE CAMP, Turkey — “Allah bless Erdogan, Allah bless the governor, Allah bless Turkey.” Praise for Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is in short supply amid a wave of anti-government protests that have rocked the country since May 31. But these words from Leila Bitar, a middle-aged mother of seven, are widely echoed among some 1,350 Syrian Sunnis who have taken refuge at the Altinozu Camp, about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) inside Turkey.
The converted tobacco warehouse is among 18 camps set up to accommodate the flood of Syrians fleeing their country’s 2-year-long civil war.
