Syrian refugees
The terrorists of the so called Islamic State (IS) are trying to conquer the Syrian border town Kobane by all means. They announced to exterminate the Kurdish people. Meanwhile nearly the whole population of Kobane fled to Turkey. More than 50,000 men, women and children from Syria are taken care of by the Kurdish local government of Suruç, a city of originally 50,000 inhabitants. On behalf of the Turkish government the Turkish red Halfmoon takes care of approximately 6,000 refugees.
Several refugee camps, which are organized by the local government with huge effort, reside in and around the Kurdish city Suruç in striking distance to the Syrian border. Thanks to the Bar?? ve Demokrasi Partisi (Party of freedom and democracy, BDP) and the mayoress of the city the supply works in a satisfactory manner. But without the help of many volunteers (e.g. people from abroad, activists from Istanbul, Kurdish people who escaped the prosecution of IS, unsalaried doctors etc.) the engagement of the officials would not have the necessary results. In spite of the solidarity the situation is very tense. While escaping many people lost everything they owned and had to witness the IS murdering their friends and family members. What they suffered through is beyond description. By order of the Turkish government some even had to leave their cars behind at the turnpike. All of them know that everything they once owned, including their homes, presumably was destroyed by bombes and grenades. All of the refugees support the Kurdish male and female fighters from YPG and are hoping to be able to return to Kobane soon. In contrast to their hopes the volunteer helpers, estimating the situation in a lot more down-to-earth way, assume that their mission could last much longer. Roland Geisheimer, Mark Mühlhaus