Turkey police crack down on Syria aid workers after unrest

ANKARA: The finger of blame which the Turkish government pointed at foreigners for orchestrating anti-government protests that rocked the country now appears to target foreign aid missions helping internally displaced Syrians.

Last week Turkish police raided offices of two humanitarian aid missions operating in war-torn Syria and deported four foreigners, witnesses said.

A Turkish official however denied the action was linked to the nationwide demonstrations that presented the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) with its most serious challenge since coming to power more than a decade ago, saying that humanitarian aid missions in border regions must be registered.

A source familiar with the humanitarian efforts in Syria gave an account of two separate cases in the city of Antakya near the border with Syria where police detained one Spanish, one German and two British aid workers and deported them after hours of interrogation.

"You're aware of how difficult it is for humanitarians to operate in Syria, but we're also coming under increasing pressure from the Turkish state," the source told on the phone.

"In one case last Wednesday an NGO staff member was forced off the road by unmarked police cars. Police caught him when he tried to run. His flat was searched. He was interrogated for hours and detained before being transferred to a counter-terrorism unit," the source added.

The following day, 30 police officers raided another NGO office, which was in the process of registration, according to the source.

"The charges shifted from evasion of police to drugs and to the suspicion of fomenting unrest," he said.

Several weeks of unrest, sparked by a local environment campaign to save a central Istanbul park from demolition, grew into nationwide protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, seen as increasingly authoritarian.