Turkey: 130,000 Syrian Kurds Have Crossed Border Fleeing Islamic State

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2014-09-22

Turkish officials say more than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey since late last week in order to flee an advance by Islamic State militants.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Monday the government is expecting the number to rise, and is prepared for "the worst case scenario."

Turkey has already taken in about 850,000 Syrian refugees since a civil war began there in March 2011. Some 300,000 of them have arrived this year.

The latest influx has come as the Islamic State group pushed into Kurdish areas of northern Syria during the past week.

The expansion north of its stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, adds to the areas where the group has taken control in the eastern part of the country as well as large parts of northern and western Iraq.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has issued a call to arms for Turkish Kurds to defend Syria's border towns.

Source: Voice of America

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