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Turkey-Syria border remains vulnerable

Increased patrols along the Turkey-Syria border do not provide full security.
A man stands near a burning motorbike at the site of a car bomb attack at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Syria and Turkey, in Idlib January 20, 2014. Two car bombs hit a rebel-held border post in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib on Monday, opposition activists and fighters said, killing at least 10 people and closing the frontier. The Bab al-Hawa crossing is held by a rebel alliance called the Islamic Front, which have been fighting with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levan

Expressing disbelief that the Geneva II talks could produce any definitive solution to the Syrian war, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to blame the permanent members of the UN Security Council for the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. “Although the UN is the largest organization aimed at keeping peace in our world, it has not yet taken a step [in Syria] toward peace. Of course, UN Security Council permanent members are primarily responsible for this outcome,” Erdogan said in Berlin Feb. 4. 

“Unless the UN Security Council is reformed, the faith of such countries will depend ... on those permanent members. We will, however, continue doing our part without any break,” Erdogan said, adding, “There are nearly 700,000 Syrians in my country right now. About 220,000 live in tent and container camps. Others stay in houses in different cities. We have spent almost $2.5 billion on Syrians. The UN has only helped [with] $130 million. Whether the UN extends its helping hand or not, we will continue keeping our borders open for our Syrian neighbors.”

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