Syrians jump barbed wire fences as they flee from the Syrian town of Ras Al-Ain to Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, Friday. More than 120,000 registered Syrian refugees are now sheltering in Turkish camps. Tens of thousands of unregistered Syrians are also living in Turkish border towns and villages. — Reuters ANKARA – Around 11,000 Syrian refugees fled into Turkey in the past 24 hours, the UN refugee agency said Friday, and Turkish state media said 26 defecting Syrian army officers had also arrived. More than 120,000 registered Syrian refugees are now sheltering in Turkish camps. Tens of thousands of unregistered Syrians are also living in Turkish border towns and villages. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official had earlier put the latest influx at 8,000 - a single-day total that is sure to heighten Ankara's concerns about the flood of refugees. Turkey has long pushed for a foreign-protected safe zone inside Syria but the proposal has gained little international support. Ankara has become increasingly vocal in its frustration at the UN Security Council over its failure to take action. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan hit out again Friday at the 15-nation Security Council. “It is very strange. There are currently atrocities being committed in Syria and these atrocities are being directed by a state leader. While these atrocities are continuing ... there is a United Nations that is remaining silent towards it,” Erdogan said during a trip to Indonesia. “How far will this go? When will the permanent members of the UN Security Council take responsibility? We are obliged to act together to counter this, otherwise we cannot refer to this world body as being democratic,” he said. The latest exodus to Turkey is one of the largest on a single day since the start of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad began in March last year. UNHCR said 1,000 Syrians had also fled to Lebanon and another 1,000 to Jordan, swelling the overall total who are registered or being assisted in the region to 408,000. State-run Anatolian news agency said around 5,000 Syrians had crossed into Turkey's Sanliurfa province overnight, fleeing fighting between rebels and Syrian government forces in the town of Ras Al-Ain just across the border in Syria. Anatolian said 26 military officers, including two generals, had defected to Turkey overnight, marking the biggest mass desertion of senior soldiers from Assad's forces in months. The officers, among them two generals, 11 colonels, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors, four captains, and five lieutenants, crossed into the border province of Hatay with their families and other soldiers, making a total of 71 people. – Agencies
