At least 30,000 civilians have fled fighting between jihadists and rebels in northern Syria in the past 48 hours, Human Rights Watch says, calling on Turkey to open its border to them.

Syrian rebels seize control of the Islamic State group's main supply route to Turkey, a monitor says.

Greece begins a process of returning migrants to Turkey under an EU deal, despite fears over lack of preparation and criticism from campaigners.

Greek authorities are gearing up to send hundreds of failed asylum-seekers back to Turkey, which is racing to set up reception centres under a controversial EU deal.

There is growing concern over a lack of preparation for the plan to send migrants back from Greece to Turkey, two days before it goes into effect.

The suicide bomber who killed four people in Istanbul's main shopping street belonged to so-called Islamic State (IS), the interior minister says.

The agreement between the EU and Turkey to tackle the migrant crisis has formally come into effect.

A suicide bomb attack at a busy shopping area in the Turkish city of Istanbul has killed at least four people, officials say.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to bring terrorism "to its knees" after an attack in the capital Ankara that killed at least 34 people.

Germans are set to vote in three regional elections seen as a test of support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's policy towards refugees.

EU and Turkish leaders seek to turn into a lasting accord a plan on easing Europe's migrant crisis hailed as a game-changer by Ankara and Brussels but swiftly criticised by the UN's refugee chief.

EU president Donald Tusk strikes an unusually upbeat note on the migrant crisis as Turkey raised the possibility of taking back non-Syrian asylum seekers.

EU ministers meet in Brussels later amid warnings the migrant crisis could threaten the bloc's survival.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blames Kurdish militants in Turkey and Syrian Kurdish fighters for the Ankara bombing targeting military vehicles that killed 28, confirming the bomber was a Syrian national.

France and Turkey have said that air strikes on hospitals in northern Syria constitute war crimes.

Two suspected people-smugglers go on trial in Turkey accused of causing the death of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi — whose drowning put a human face on the Syrian refugee crisis — and four other people.

At least 24 migrants have died off the Turkish coast trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, Turkish media say.

Turkish aid workers have been setting up tents and distributing supplies for thousands of new Syrian refugees kept from entering Turkey at the border.

Officials in the EU have urged Turkey to let in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees trapped on its border at Kilis after fleeing fighting.

The number of Syrians trying to cross into Turkey amid an upsurge of fighting in northern Syria has nearly doubled, a Turkish official says.