Authorities prevented a convoy of 200 opposition activists Thursday from entering Syria via Turkey with medical aid for victims of the ongoing uprising, an AFP reporter at the border said.
Some of the activists said they had travelled from as far afield as the United States and western Europe in order to join the so-called 'Freedom Convoy' which included five buses and several cars.
Brandishing Syrian flags, the convoy was initially stopped by Turkish police at a lay-by, some 15 kilometres (10 miles) from Oncupinar customs gate in the southeastern Turkish town of Kilis.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
And a delegation from the convoy which approached the border was later turned back by Syrian officials and returned empty-handed.
"Our delegation was denied entry and so we have decided to stay here until we reach a decision all together," said Dalati Bilal, a 42-year-old Syrian-American businessman who had travelled to Turkey from California.
"If the Syrians refuse (to let us in) then we will just camp here until they allow us to. Our plan is to camp here tonight.
"The whole idea of the convoy is to support the Syrian people inside, to show that we are with them even if it's so little what we are doing. They are dying for freedom."
Zeyna Adi, one of the organisers, told AFP that a second "Freedom Convoy" which had been hoping to enter Syria via Jordan was cancelled at "the last minute" after being blocked by the authorities there.
The convoy in Turkey had left for the border in mid-morning, travelling on from Gaziantep towards the border post which lies on the road leading towards Syria's second city of Aleppo.
As they were stuck in Kilis, many of the activists began singing slogans denouncing the regime in Damascus of President Bashar al-Assad, including chants such as "Assad Will Go To Hell" and "Freedom Forever."
The Syrian National Council, an umbrella organization including most of the opposition groups in Syria, have expressed its support for the convoy.
Turkey and its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once a close ally of Assad, have been at the forefront of international criticism over the Damascus regime's bloody crackdown on protests.
Both Erdogan and Jordan's King Abdullah II have called on Assad to quit.
Turkey has also become a haven for many Syrian opposition activists since the start of the uprising some 10 months ago.
