Turkey ready to let in refugees: Erdogan

Turkey said it was ready "if necessary" to let in tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing a major Russian-backed regime offensive, as aid agencies warned yesterday of a "desperate" situation.

Thousands of people, including many women and children, are stranded at the Turkish border after an exodus triggered by fierce fighting near Syria's second city Aleppo.

"If they reached our door and have no other choice, if necessary, we have to and will let our brothers in," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.

Turkey's Oncupinar border crossing, which faces the Bab al-Salama frontier post inside Syria, remained closed yesterday to thousands of refugees gathered there for a third day, an AFP reporter said.

They waited desperately for the moment the gate will open, as Turkish aid trucks delivered food inside Syria.

Carrying what few belongings they still have, Syrians queued up in the cold and rain in squalid camps near the Turkish border, waiting for tents being distributed by aid agencies.

Meanwhile, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said yesterday it was ready to send ground troops to Syria as part of an international coalition to fight against Islamic State, reports Reuters.

Asked if the UAE was ready to send troops if need be, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said at a media briefing in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi: "This has been our position throughout."

"We have been frustrated at the slow pace .... of confronting Daesh," he added, referring to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym.

"We are not talking about thousands of troops but we are talking about troops on the ground that will lead the way ... that will support ... and I think our position remains the same and we will have to see how this progresses," he said.

Gargash added "US leadership on this" would be a prerequisite for the UAE.

The medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said camps for displaced people in the north of Aleppo province were overwhelmed.

"From what MSF can see the situation in Azaz district is desperate, with ongoing fighting and tens of thousands of people displaced," said Muskilda Zancada, the head of the group's Syria mission.