Turkey’s refugee problem reached a new peak following Syrian Kurds' capture of Tell Abyad from Islamic State (IS) forces about a month ago. During the clashes in northern Syria, more than 25,000 Syrians crossed the border into Turkey, increasing the number of refugees in the country to more than 2 million. Yet, this is not the primary concern of the Turkish government. Instead, it has been claiming that the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the dominant Kurdish party in northern Syria, is conducting ethnic cleansing with the intention of establishing an independent Kurdish state. To this end, Ankara charges that the PYD has been exiling Arabs and Turkmens in the region and not allowing the refugees of these ethnicities to return to Tell Abyad.

A visit across the border into Syria casts doubt on these claims.

This visit came after the US State Department had also expressed similar concerns about alleged ethnic cleansing. Its spokesman Jeff Rathke said June 10 that the department was concerned about reports of ethnic cleansing in the area and was “seeking more information about them." John Bass, US ambassador to Ankara, went one step further, stating that “Turkey and the US share common concerns”​ about northern Syria. It had not been possible to verify the allegations because the PYD had kept the border crossings closed for a month. This also led to thousands of Syrians massing on the Turkish side of the border, waiting to return to their homes.

In mid-July, I visited Akcakale, a border town in Turkey, and then crossed into northern Syria, where I had the chance to witness what had developed firsthand. In Akcakale, hundreds of refugees waited in the streets, in parks and along the border for the PYD to open the border gates.