Tal Abyad

Hundreds of Syrian refugees have been living outdoors in Turkey?s southern resort town of Bodrum, while locals have expressed both their sympathy and their concerns, fearing the situation could negatively impact tourism. 

As Syrians who fled the clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Kurdish forces have started returning to Tal Abyad after the jihadists' defeat, Kurdish militia have discovered a torture center and prison cells in the Syrian town. 

Ankara ?will not permit its red lines to be crossed? in northern Syria after a key town on the Turkish border was captured by Kurdish forces from extremist jihadists, warning Kurds not to force Turkmens and Arabs out of the region.

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres will join refugees in southeastern Turkey for iftar, the traditional Islamic fast-breaking dinner, on June 20. 

Syrian refugees in Turkey have begun returning to their homes in Tal Abyad after Kurdish forces seized the border town in a major blow to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Amid uncertainty over the composition of the next government after June 7 elections, the tension along the Turkish-Syrian border has intensified to the advantage of the Syrian Kurds that grabbed the control of strategic city Tal Abyad from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Kurdish forces have seized control of a key border town from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), cutting a major supply line in the biggest setback yet for the jihadists in Syria, as the Turkish government clearly voiced its unease over the perceived efforts to unify Kurdish cantons in its southern neighbor. 

Kurdish militia, backed by Syrian rebel forces, seized full control of a key border town from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group jihadists early on June 16, a monitoring group said. 

"Since dawn this morning, not a single bullet has been fired in Tal Abyad," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.    

Syrian Kurdish militias, who drove out Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants from the center of Kobane after 134 days of battle, are launching operations into the villages surrounding the Syrian border town in a bid to clear the last frontiers of the battle from the Islamists.

Hundreds of Kurdish fighters have entered the predominantly Syrian Kurdish region known as Rojava in recent days to battle jihadists besieging the Kurdish city of Kobane, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdul Rahman said July 14, as the Turkish army beefed up its security on the border.