Syria troops make more gains in Aleppo, near Turkish border

Turkey’s Oncupinar border crossing, which faces the Bab al-Salama frontier post inside Syria, remained closed on Sunday as refugees, mostly women and children, gathered there for a third day waiting for the gate to open.

Turkish humanitarian organizations are providing food aid to the internally displaced along the Syrian side border and setting up camps, but such assistance “has not covered everyone’s needs”, Abu Ahmed al-Halabi, a civilian who fled northern Aleppo, told Syria Direct Monday.

“It’s the first time since 2013 that the Syrian regime has been this close to the Turkish border in Aleppo province”, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor.

Ankara, which has already taken in an estimated 2.7 million Syrian refugees, is under pressure to prevent migrants continuing across the Mediterranean to Europe while also being urged to open its doors to another batch of arrivals. Germany saw an unprecedented 1.1 million asylum seekers arrive past year, many of them fleeing the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The intense and, critics say, indiscriminate Russian air attacks have shattered the latest round of peace talks, forced the regional and global players to reassess their strategies and calculations and left Syrian insurgents shocked that the United States and other countries that have supported them appear unable or unwilling to reverse the battlefield momentum.

Merkel’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Twitter that support for the Turkish coast guard and the EU’s Frontex border agency will be discussed at a “NATO level”.

Merkel is meeting Davutoglu and other Turkish officials for talks on reducing the influx of migrants to Europe.

Syrian army troops meanwhile, recaptured another village north of Aleppo on Monday, bringing troops and allied militiamen to within a few miles (kilometers) of the Turkish border.

With his country facing mounting pressure to open its border, Davutoglu said the refugees would be admitted if need be, although Turkey should not be expected “to shoulder the refugee issue alone”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the nation is “under threat” from the wave of refugees, but said that “if necessary, we have to, and will, let our brothers in”.

As tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing violence massed at Turkey’s border, Turkish and German leaders pledged Monday to redouble diplomatic efforts to end the fighting around the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo and prevent more refugees making their way into Europe. “We are concerned about the airstrikes which are increasingly targeting civilian areas”.

“In particular, we will make a joint effort on the effective use of NATO’s observation and monitoring mechanisms on the border and in the Aegean”.

“They want to see a school in the city and fast”, Merkel said during a visit to Ankara. MEPs have called on European Union countries to deliver on the €3 billion refugee facility for Turkey.

Kurdish forces have also pushed further east from their bastion in Afrin, seizing six villages in recent days after rebel groups withdrew.

Macedonia started building the fence in November when it toughened entry criteria for migrants and refugees traveling through Greece.