IDLIB, Syria — Ramez Dyoub hopes he and his family can soon cross the Syrian border to reach safety in Turkey, as they have been forced to leave their hometown of Khan Sheikhoun as the Syrian regime seeks to crush the opposition's last stronghold, Idlib province.
Tens of thousands of Syrians have fled to the Turkish border with northwest Syria in the past couple of weeks, officials said, and Turkey previously allowed in about 3.66 million registered refugees from its neighbor since 2012. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed concern in his Sept. 5 speech to his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara over the new wave of displaced Syrians from Idlib, saying the number of refugees might reach 1 million.
Turkey is the dam keeping the flood of refugees from reaching Europe, as part of a $6.6 billion agreement reached with the European Union in 2016. Erdogan is threatening to open the gates unless it receives more help from the West, and a "safe zone" is established in northeastern Syria to keep armed groups of Syrian Kurds away from the Turkish border. Work on the zone is underway with US participation.
Dyoub and his family are living in a small tent in an agricultural field near Atmeh. They escaped the shelling near Khan Sheikhoun, but he said his hopes of returning were dashed after government forces seized the city Aug. 20.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
