Schools, streets emptied as rocket projectiles from Syria trigger migration from Turkey’s Kilis

KİLİS - Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Around 30 percent of the population in the southeastern province of Kilis migrated to neighboring provinces as the latest rocket firings from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) bases in northern Syria have left 17 people dead since January.

Hit by up to 45 Katyusha projectiles in several firings from Syria, classes in Kilis were closed while around 90 percent of students have stopped going to school.

Locals have also emptied from the usually lively streets and markets because the rockets, which began on January 18.

Around 130,000 Syrians have flocked to the border province since the conflict flared up in their country, joining the 93,000 people already living in the province. Locals have also begun leaving as a result of their new neighbors.

Shops have been mostly closed as people prefer to stay at their houses.

“Going out on the streets is a huge risk. We will leave as soon as we buy everything we need,” a local shopping in a market said.

In addition, the real estate market also saw a significant drop as prices fell by 35 percent, according to the head of Kilis real estate association.

A regional chief of the education union Eğitim-Sen has also said parents are scared after rocket projectiles hit schools.

Around 600 teachers have been asked to be reassigned from the province, Eğitim-Sen Kilis chief Osman Boybeyi said, calling on officials to declare recess until the end of the academic term and to “look after” Kilis by reviewing security measures.