TURKEY: Country denies military training in refugee camp

Record ID: 346662

  • Title: TURKEY: Country denies military training in refugee camp
  • Date: 4th September 2012
  • Summary: HATAY, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 4, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF APAYDIN CAMP ROWS OF TENTS AT CAMP MAN LYING IN TENT TENT SURROUNDED BY HIGH BARBED WIRE FENCE VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS AT APAYDIN CAMP CHAIRMAN OF TURKISH PARLIAMENT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, AYHAN SEFER USTUN, AT CAMP MORE OF APAYDIN CAMP SIGN AT ENTRANCE TO APAYDIN CAMP
  • Embargoed: 19th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA7C50TYXYRG5OT2SIY3GMDZ8R6
  • Story Text: Members of the Turkish parliament's Human Rights Commission visited the Apaydin refugee camp on Tuesday (September 4), following allegations the camp was being used to train rebel fighters.
    The lawmakers denied claims that rebel training was happening within the heavily secured camp that shelters army defectors, including dozens of generals.
    Nearly 300 of the 2,764 refugees at the camp are Syrian army members, police officers and public officials.
    The parliamentary delegation was the first group to gain access to the Apaydin camp, in Turkey's Hatay province near the border.
    Following the visit, the head of the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights, Ayhan Sefer Ustun, told journalists refugee camp was "not different to the other refugee camps".
    Turkey already hosts more than 80,000 Syrians who have fled the 17-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and the U.N. refugee agency says that figure could reach 200,000.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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