Turkey deports 600 Syrian refugees over camp unrest

Turkey deported Thursday some 600 Syrian refugees back to Syria after they clashed with Turkish policemen in a protest over a fire at a camp in southeastern Turkey, local media said. The fire, breaking out Wednesday morning at Suleyman Sah tent city in Akcakale town in Sanliurfa province due to an electrical fault, killed a seven-year-old child and wounded three others, and later prompted the refugees to protest the camp's living conditions. Some hurled stones at the Turkish police. By watching monitor record, Turkish security officials determined those refugees who were involved in violence damaging the camp, and deported them in groups of 20-30, private Dogan News Agency reported. However, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official denied that the refugees were deported, saying that a small number of them had no longer wanted to stay at the camp and decided to return to Syria. Ankara's figures say a total of 184,977 Syrian refugees are currently taking shelter in 14 refugee camps in Turkey, as the Syrian crisis moves into the third year and displaced a huge number to neighboring countries.