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.
Leila’s story is typical. Her son Aladdin, a fighter in the Free Syrian Army, died in battle eight months ago at age 30. Two other sons, who are still fighting, come every so often to visit her and rest at the camp. Like many here, Leila seems unfazed by President Bashar al-Assad’s recent victories on the ground. “We will defeat the dog,” she declares.
Life at Atlinozu is deceptively normal. The aroma of freshly baked flatbread wafts through the air. Business is brisk at a clutch of small shops selling candy and shampoo. In pristine makeshift classrooms, children learn to read and write in Arabic. They are taught Turkish as well. Beshar Mergan, an English teacher from Latakia in northwest Syria, says textbooks have been purged of all references to the Assads.
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