MURSITPINAR REFUGEE CAMP, Turkey — Tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing ISIS militants and the fighting in their country have poured across the Turkish border in recent days, swelling refugee centers amid an undercurrent of tension. A throng gathered Wednesday morning at a crowded center along the Syrian border, surging toward tents to escape rain and a driving wind.
The flood of humanity that relief workers say tops 138,000 people has come as ISIS has captured more than a hundred villages in northern Syria in the last week and a half, according to Reuters.
In Mursitpinar, a bus arrived at the camp carrying 70 to 80 more people, who climbed off into the downpour. Some approached Turkish relief officials, registering at a picnic table for a polio vaccine. Others made their way up a main road to the town of Suruc, carrying bags and water. Some met family waiting in idling cars near the camp.
Up the road, near the Suruc town center, there were also signs of more unrest. Several dozen young men, Turkish Kurds, carried signs and gathered for an apparent demonstration against the Turkish government. There have been a handful of demonstrations here in recent days, as young men who have crossed from Syria with their families have demanded that the Turkish government allow them back, free of their families, to fight in the widening war there. Near the young men Wednesday morning, about 200 police fixed their riot gear.
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— Aziz Akyavas and James Novogrod