Around 1,000 Syrian refugees, including a defecting general, crossed into Turkey in the last 24 hours, the foreign ministry said today, the one-year anniversary of the Syrian revolt, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Ankara accused the Syrian leadership of planting landmines near its border with Turkey along routes used by refugees fleeing the Damascus regime's deadly crackdown on dissent.
"The number of Syrian refugees currently staying in Turkey boomed by 1,000 in a single day and climbed to 14,700 total," foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal told reporters in Ankara.
The latest wave of arrivals included a defecting general who crossed the border to join the rebel forces which have a base in Turkey's Hatay province on the border with Syria, according to Unal.
"With the Syrian general who arrived yesterday, we now host seven generals on our side of the border," he said. The official declined to identify the general saying it would be against the international asylum law.
Syrians flee to Turkey as Syria plants mines on border
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