Turkey is shutting down most of the border crossings with Syria after 70,000 Kurdish refugees poured over the border to escape advancing Islamic State (IS) militants.  But the closures may prevent ethnic Kurds from crossing from Turkey into Syria to take up the fight against IS.

Turkish security forces clashed with the Kurds who staged a solidarity demonstration on the north side of the border, and tried to go south to defend their towns and villages.  The Turks stopped the Kurds, but rocks were met with tear gas as the situation degenerated.  Turkey has denied accusations it allowed jihadists to use its territory to cross into Syria and fight against the government of Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Turkish government will not reveal the details of a covert operation that ensured IS would release some 49 Turkish hostages the extremist group was holding. 

“There are things we cannot talk about,” Erdogan told some of the hostages and their families.  “To run the state is not like running a grocery store. We have to protect sensitive issues.  If you don't, there would be a price to pay.”

Many suspect that a price was paid, but Turkey insists it did not pay ransoms for the 49.