Smugglers Offer Cheap Passage From Turkey to Syria

Zlatica Hoke ( voanews.com)
Smugglers in Turkey offer a relatively cheap passage across the border into Syria.  Ankara has stepped up efforts to stem the flow of foreign fighters who want to join Islamic State militants fighting for control of the Syrian border city of Kobani.  But porous borders and border guards who can be bribed make illegal border crossings quite easy.

Turkish tanks patrol the country's long border with Syria, but once they are gone it is not hard to get through a loose barbed wire barrier - like these two men running into Turkey from the Syrian side.  The embattled Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani, besieged by Islamic State forces, is in clear view through the unmonitored gap in the fence.

The border crossing of Oncupinar, an hour's drive from the Syrian city of Aleppo, is busy with people trying to cross into one of the most violent regions in the world.  Many of them are Turkish Kurds who want to help their Syrian brethren; but, those trying to join the militants also find a way to cross.

A former smuggler, identified only as Mustafa, says anyone can come from and go into Turkey easily.  He says it costs no more than 50 Turkish liras, equivalent to about $20, for someone to enter Syria illegally.

"Smuggling process here is semi-open on the border," he said.  "Anyone can go and come back easily.  The numbers of the smugglers are more than 25 people."

Mustafa spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, fearing arrest or retribution from criminals and militants.  He said most of the people who want to cross are Turks or Syrians, but there are also foreigners.

• "I saw three foreigners in September who spoke English with an American accent. They told me that they wanted to go to the region that is controlled by Islamic State group.  I told them to go 15 kilometers farther to the refugee camp in Kilis and cross from there. They said they would give me money if I took them there, but they did not show up at the appointed time," he said.

• Other smugglers confirmed Mustafa's account of an Islamic State crossing point close to a refugee camp in Kilis, and said there was another one farther east near the Syrian city of Jarablus.  The Turkish government has stepped up border security, but officials in Ankara acknowledge that eliminating illegal crossings completely would be impossible.

"The measures that have been enacted right now would probably decrease all these activities.  I mean, bringing it to zero level - that's almost impossible; but, in terms of creating a security question, yes, the measures have been taken and we believe they have been quite effective," said Cemalettin Hasami, an advisor to the Turkish prime minister.

Smugglers say that a crackdown by authorities over the last year has made their work more dangerous, but the border remains porous because of their knowledge of its vulnerabilities and the complicity of some border guards.
VIDEO: http://www.voanews.com/media/video/smugglers-offer-cheap-passage-from-turkey-to-syria/2496205.html
http://www.voanews.com
25/10/14
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