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Türkiye Won’t Allow New Syrian Refugee Influx after Quake, Says Minister

An aerial picture shows the hospital (R) in the town of Harem, near buildings destroyed by an earthquake and tents erected to house homeless residents, in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Türkiye, on February 11, 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. (AFP)
An aerial picture shows the hospital (R) in the town of Harem, near buildings destroyed by an earthquake and tents erected to house homeless residents, in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Türkiye, on February 11, 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. (AFP)
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Türkiye Won’t Allow New Syrian Refugee Influx after Quake, Says Minister

An aerial picture shows the hospital (R) in the town of Harem, near buildings destroyed by an earthquake and tents erected to house homeless residents, in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Türkiye, on February 11, 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. (AFP)
An aerial picture shows the hospital (R) in the town of Harem, near buildings destroyed by an earthquake and tents erected to house homeless residents, in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Türkiye, on February 11, 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. (AFP)

Türkiye will not allow a new influx of refugees from Syria after last week's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

"Claims that there is a new influx of refugees from Syria to Türkiye (after the earthquake) are not true. We will not allow that; it is out of question," Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara.

Cavusoglu was commenting on claims that Syrians were flooding into Türkiye following last Monday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake which has killed more than 37,000 in the two countries.

Humanitarian aid to Syria's opposition-held areas is being delivered through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, and Türkiye is ready to open two new border crossings from Kilis province after the earthquake, Cavusoglu said.

"All of these border crossings are for humanitarian aid. That does not mean that Syrians are coming to Türkiye through these crossings," he said.

"We are facilitating humanitarian aid for Syrians, but we are not allowing a new Syrian refugee influx. These are two separate issues," he said.

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Arab World

Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
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Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed

The Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory's last fibre optic cable it blamed on Israel.

"All internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fibre optic line in Gaza," the PA's telecommunications ministry said in a statement, accusing Israel of attempting to cut Gaza off from the world, AFP reported.

"The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that its maintenance and repair teams had been unable to safely access the sites where damage occurred to the fibre optic cable.

"The Israeli occupation continues to prevent technical teams from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday", it said, adding that Israeli authorities had prevented repairs to other telecommunication lines in Gaza "for weeks and months".

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the communication lines were "directly targeted by occupation forces".

It said the internet outage was hindering its emergency services by impeding communication with first responder teams in the field.

"The emergency operations room is also struggling to coordinate with other organisations to respond to humanitarian cases."

Maysa Monayer, spokeswoman for the Palestinian communication ministry, told AFP that "mobile calls are still available with very limited capacity" in Gaza for the time being.

Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territory, including water mains, power lines and roads.