Syrian refugees in Turkey reach 200,000

ANKARA, Turkey, June 14 (UPI) -- The number of Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war in their homeland to Turkey has grown to more than 200,000, Turkish officials said.

"Turkey is sheltering 200,091 Syrians," the Prime Ministry's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said in a statement Thursday.

Last year, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey could handle no more than 100,000 Syrian refugees and called for the United Nations to set up a buffer zone inside Syria to shelter them, the Anatolia News Agency reported.

Since the start of the Syrian civil war more than two years ago, Turkey has provided aid to more than 320,000 Syrians, AFAD said.