Europe is urging Turkey to open its border to tens of thousands of Syrians who have fled a regime offensive backed by Russian bombardment in the northern province of Aleppo.
Aid agencies warned that an estimated 20,000 people are waiting at the Bab al-Salam border crossing near the Turkish town of Kilis, many of them sleeping in the open. Tens of thousands more are said to be on the move elsewhere in the province after being forced from their homes.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, called on Turkey to open the crossing. She said that a €3 billion (£2.3bn) deal with Ankara to stem the flow of refugees to Europe was "aimed exactly" at making sure that Turkey could provide safe asylum for Syrians.
Turkey is already home to more than 2 million Syrian refugees. It has faced huge pressure from the EU and the United States to close its border to prevent the transit of Isis jihadists. In recent months, only limited numbers of Syrians have been allowed to cross.
Dalia al-Awqati, director of the northern Syria programme at the charity Mercy Corps, warned that conditions for those waiting at or near the border are highly challenging. Most families are sleeping without shelter, she said, despite night-time temperatures plunging close to zero.
"Humanitarian agencies are having a difficult time reaching everyone," she said. "Because the situation is so fluid it is very difficult. We have seen tens of thousands on the move in the last few days."
She warned that the situation continued to deteriorate in Syria, with the upshot that ever-more civilians were being forced to flee. "In the past year we have seen an intensification of the fighting and a shrinking of humanitarian spaces that can be considered safe," she said. "They are between a rock and a hard place. Between hell and high water."
Forces loyal to President Assad have made a series of important gains in Aleppo province over the past week. On Wednesday, they succeeded in severing the main supply route into the eastern, rebel-held part of Aleppo, Syria’s second city.
Heavy fighting continued in the area to the north of the city today. Analysts said that, thanks to help from Russia and Iran, Syrian government forces were within a few miles of totally encircling the city.
An estimated 400,000 people live in the half of the city controlled by various rebel factions that include the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. They fear that they will soon become the latest place to be subjected to siege warfare that offers the choice of either surrendering or being starved into submission.
Mahmoud Hassan, a human rights and civil society activist from Aleppo, said that prices in the city had risen dramatically in recent days in anticipation of a siege.
Speaking via Facebook from the al-Sakhour district in eastern Aleppo, he said that the area was being subjected to "relentless" bombardment. He said: "We are being bombed by planes, by rocket launchers and by artillery. Of course people are very frightened. Some have already left, others are planning to do so."
Regaining control of the whole of Aleppo, an opposition stronghold since 2012, would be a hugely victory for Damascus both strategically and symbolically. Both supporters and opponents of President Assad believe that it could herald the beginning of the end of the five-year uprising against him. Mr Hassan offered a gloomy prediction for those still hoping to topple the Syrian president: "If Aleppo is lost the revolution will be completely extinguished."
