HATAY, Turkey
Dozens of Iraqi refugees arrived in Turkey on Monday, having travelled through Syria for more than two weeks.
A group of 64 Iraqis were welcomed by Turkish troops in the southeastern province of Hatay before they were ferried to hospital in Yayladagi for medical checks.
Abdul Samet, from Iraq’s northern Mosul province, arrived in Turkey with his wife and two children. He said they had crossed Syria to escape attacks by Daesh extremists in Iraq.
"We cannot directly come to the Turkish border as it is dangerous,” he told Anadolu Agency. “We set out for Turkey via Syria to save our lives. We walked most of the road with our children, suffering from thirst and hunger, and now we do not know what to do."
Mohamed Ali, an Iraqi Turkmen, said he decided to come to Turkey to save his life. The Turkmen ethnic group are among those targeted by Daesh militants.
Another Turkmen, a doctor who asked not to be named, said they reached the border by vehicle and foot. "We tried many times to reach Turkey via Iraq but failed," he said.
Locals in Yayladagi provided food and water for the refugees.
Northern and western parts of Iraq have been gripped by insecurity since June 2014 when Daesh seized large chunks of land and declared a caliphate.
