ANKARA (AFP)
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie said Thursday that Syrian refugees
were deeply worried about the plight of their families back home
as she visited a Turkish camp on the border with the war-torn
nation.
"They are very very emotional and very deeply saddened by the
situation in Syria and very concerned about their family and
friends in their country," said Jolie, a UN special envoy.
"Our thoughts are with them and with the Turkish people and we
are very grateful to you," she said, also praising the Ankara
government for funding "such extraordinary camps."
Jolie, accompanied by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio
Guterres, met some of the 12,000 refugees at the Oncupinar camp,
which lies outside the southeastern city of Kilis on the Syrian
border.
The Oscar-winning actress said she listened to the stories of the
refugees who have fled Syria, where a brutal conflict that began
as a peaceful uprising against the Damascus regime has now killed
around 27,000 people, according to activists.
Jolie was also briefed by Turkish officials at Oncupinar on
conditions at the country's border camps which altogether shelter
some 80,000 registered refugees, according to the Anatolia news
agency.
"I would be a happy man if we would be able to provide to all the
refugees in the world the same kind of conditions that generously
the Turkish government is providing here in Kilis camp to the
Syrian refugees," Guterres told reporters.
Jolie also travelled to another camp in nearby Gaziantep city and
is due in Ankara for talks with Turkish officials, including
President Abdullah Gul.
On Tuesday, Jolie visited a refugee camp in Jordan where she
appealed to the world to "do everything they can to support these
refugees" fleeing the escalating conflict in their country.
Ankara has called for safe zones to protect people on Syrian
soil, but the proposal fell on deaf ears at a UN Security Council
meeting last month.
