Syria unrest fuels local tensions in Turkey
While Syrian refugees seek intervention to topple Assad, Alawites reject any interference in neighbour’s affairs.
Thousands of Syrians have fled to neighbouring Turkey seeking safety since the government cracked down on protesters. Many of them have been living in refugee camps in towns close to the Syria border for the last eight months.
These refugees are increasingly calling for international intervention in their home country to help topple Bashar al-Assad’s government.
However, many Turkish Alawites – a branch of Shia Islam to which President Assad’s family belongs – living in the city of Antakya have come out against intervention in Syria, calling it “imperialist intervention”.
Al Jazeera’s Anita McNaught reports from the Syrian-Turkey border.