Reports of Turkey border guards killing Syrians denied

A senior official from Turkey has rejected accusations that its border guards shot dead dozens of Syrian refugees and beat many others attempting to cross into the country this year.


Yasin Aktay, vice chairman of the ruling AK party, told Al Jazeera the allegations of deadly or excessive force against civilians fleeing the Syrian war were "fabricated".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said in a statement on Tuesday that Turkish snipers had targeted refugees - alleging 163 killings in total, including 31 children and 15 women, since the beginning of 2016.

"The Turkish Ganderma killed dozens of civilians, and beat dozens others leading to permanent deep scars in their bodies, while others were arrested and turned back to the Syrian lands," said the Syrian Observatory, a UK-based war-monitor group that relies on activists on the ground for information.
 [aljazeera.com]
7/12/16