Residents in Afrin stage sit-in for cancer patients denied access to Turkey
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Dozens of residents in the city of Afrin, northwest Syria, organized a sit-in next to Nowroz square in downtown Afrin, calling for opening the border for cancer patients.
On Thursday, Turkish authorities refused to receive 22 cancer patients, including 11 children in advanced stages, despite previous promises by a Turkish medical organization to receive them.
A source told North Press that the protesters raised placards demanding Turkey open the border for the cancer patients.
The source added that the residents called for referring patients to any country that can offer medical services due to the medical incapacity in the region to address the situation.
The protestors chanted phrases such as “Save the Cancer Patients” and “Open the Borders”, demanding help be provided for patients and appealing Turkish authorities to open the border for them.
The region houses more than 3,000 cancer patients, 800 of them are in serious conditions and in dire need to cross the Turkish border to get medical care, medical resources in northwestern Syria stated.
On Saturday, activists called for organizing an open set-in next to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, in north of Idlib on the Syrian-Turkish border.