Today schools in Ceylanpınar, Turkey are once again closed due to fighting just across the border in Ras al-Ayn, Syria.
Sporadic fighting in and around Ras al-Ayn has continued since the town was attacked by FSA forces last November and major battles broke out there again yesterday afternoon and last night.
The streets of Ceylanpınar were deserted yesterday afternoon and last night because bullets from these battles were being fired across the border into the town. As a precaution the Turkish government closed all schools in and near Ceylanpınar today.
The fighting is between Kurdish forces and FSA forces and there are reports that rival FSA forces are also attacking each other.
Wounded FSA forces are being transported across the border and treated in Turkish hospitals. Many deaths are being reported but no numbers have been given.
Until last November Ras al-Ayn had been a quiet peaceful farm town with a population of about 50,000 in northwestern Syria on the Turkish-Syrian border when it was attacked, and much of it occupied, by FSA forces who were not from the area.
Ras al-Ayn, which had a majority of Kurds and also had significant populations of Arabs, Christians and Chechens, has been generally deserted since last November when many (est. at 30,000+) of its residents fled from the fighting and crossed the border into Turkey. The total number of Syrian refugees in the two nearest refugee camps (Ceylanpınar and Akçakale) grew from about 36,000 to about 66,000 during this period.
There are now as many Syrians (36,000 registered Syrian refugees and 10,000 or more non-registered Syrians) living in the town of Ceylanpınar, Turkey (population in 2010 45,000) as Turkish citizens.
On Tuesday a fire in the overcrowded Ceylanpınar camp caused the deaths of three young children and one adult when four tents burned. The fire is believed to have been caused when a heater in one tent was knocked over.
Following the fire a riot broke out in the camp. The Turkish soldiers, police and security guards at the camp had to use force to restore order.
The Turkish Governmnet's Disaster and Emergency Management Agency reports that as of January 11, 2013
• there were 153,324 registered Syrian refugees in Turkey (217,380 Syrians having sought refuge and been registered as refugees in Turkey with 64,056 of them having returned to Syria).
• there were 12,879 registered Syrian refugees in the five refugee camps in Hatay Province,
• there were 28,302 registered Syrian refugees in the three refugee camps in Gaziantep Province - 8,630 in the İslahiye camp, 6,890 in the Karkamış camp, and 12,782 in the Nizip camp,
• there were 13,418 registered Syrian refugees in the refugee camp in Kilis Province,
• there were 63,991 registered Syrian refugees in the two refugee camps in Şanlıurfa Province - 35,909 in the Ceylanpınar camp and 28,082 in the Akçakale camp,
• there were 16,935 registered Syrian refugees in the refugee camp in Kahramanmaraş Province,
• there were 7,847 registered Syrian refugees in the refugee camp in Osmaniye Province,
• there were 9,720 registered Syrian refugees in the refugee camp in Adiyaman Province,
• there were 232 registered Syrian refugees being treated in Turkish hospitals.
There are unofficial estimates that there are more than 75,000 Syrians who are not registered refugees also living in Turkey.