People cross the border into Türkiye to escape Iran conflict

CGTN Europe

The human toll of the attacks on Iran is becoming clearer by the hour.  At Türkiye's eastern border, the faces of exhausted and frightened women and children tell the story of the Iranian crisis, with women and children exhausted, frightened, and unsure of what comes next.  CGTN’s Evangelo Sipsas reports from the town of Kapıköy in Turkiye — where one family's escape tells the story of many.

Transcript

00:00She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her into the safety of her father's arms.

00:06Her mother followed breathless. Just hours earlier, there were fleeing bombs.

00:14You know, war isn't good. It's very bad.

00:18My family is there now. My mother, my brother, my friends, everyone I love is still there.

00:22But I had to come here for my husband and my son.

00:25They escaped in silence, but war follows every step.

00:33Her daughter too young to understand the explosions, but old enough to feel the fear.

00:39My daughter was asleep during the blast. She didn't understand what was happening.

00:43I held her ears so she wouldn't hear it. Thank God she didn't understand.

00:47Across Turkey's eastern frontier, scenes like these are multiplying.

00:51Uranian civilians have been caught in the blast radius of the airstrikes.

00:55Physically and emotionally.

00:58I know people who were affected by strikes on nuclear facilities.

01:02I spoke to one or two of them.

01:03They said the damage wasn't catastrophic, but still some key sites were hit.

01:09The problem is that around those sites there are innocent civilians, children.

01:13Some of them were martyred in the attack.

01:15Here at the Kabukhoi border crossing, the flow of people continue quietly and steadily.

01:21The Iranian authorities have remained largely quiet of the full extent of the strikes.

01:26But the stories that people share coming through this border crossing reveal a harsh reality.

01:33And for many, the sound of the explosions have now become part of daily life.

01:38Like, you know, explosion happens, but you are just afraid of the sound, because it's really scary.

01:46But you're just going to use to it, you know.

01:50It's becoming some kind of habit.

01:52A habit no one should have to learn.

01:55As the international community scrambles for de-escalation, those on the run are just hoping for one thing.

02:01Peace.

02:02At the border between war and refuge, hope is fragile, but still alive.

02:08Evangelo Sipsas for CGTN from Kapekhoi at Turquia's border with Iran.

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