"In Turkey, we have not solved our ethnic questions, and democracy has not yet taken hold, " said Mehmet Guzelyurt, an Alawite dentist from Antakya.

WSJ: Turkey's Shiites Fear Contagion

Olivier Voisin, 38, died in a hospital in the city of Antakya in Turkey where he had been treated for injuries sustained in the Syrian province of Idlib on 21 February.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

ANTAKYA, Turkey As violent clashes continue to boil in Syria and its government is increasingly alienated from neighbors and allies, shopkeeper Ferit Kilic is worried about his own fate over the border in Turkey.

WSJ: Turkey's Shiites Fear Contagion

"I call on all of my colleagues to join this revolution and defend their rights to stand up for the free across all of our society's sects, " he told reporters Friday in Antakya, Turkey.

CNN: Clock ticks for 'mother of all battles' in Aleppo

Salim Idris said by phone from Antakya, Turkey.

CNN: Syrian TV: Israeli rockets target Damascus suburb

On Sunday, hundreds of people marched in the city of Antakya, near Reyhanli, protesting the government for its Syria policies and support for the rebels which some believe has exacerbated the conflict in Syria.

NPR: Turkey Says It Won't Be Drawn Into Syria Conflict

Mr Thubron spent eight months travelling the 11, 300 kilometres (7, 000 miles) of the old Silk Road from Xian in the heart of China to Antioch (Antakya) in Turkey and, although he scrupulously admits in a note that his trip was broken by fighting in northern Afghanistan and that he was obliged to continue the following year, this interruption does not disrupt the flow of his narrative.

ECONOMIST: Travel writing