The war-weary Syrians waiting for the gates to open on the Oncunipar crossing

Turkey has a 500 mile border with Syria, but for the last week the world's attention has been focused on a 100-yard section of it - the Oncunipar crossing at Kilis.

A brutal war rages on the other side, Aleppo is about 30 miles down the road, but its a strangely silent place for much of the time.

Warm sunlight in the middle of the day provides some relief from the biting cold.

On top of a 50 foot pole, the Turkish flag is a crimson flash in a big blue sky.But it is a bleak spot.

Children, wrapped up against the cold as they wait for news of the border opening Credit: ITV News

Chunky yellow gates about 12 feet high block the way to the war zone. Occasionally they are rolled back - just enough to let through an ambulance bringing the injured for emergency treatment at Kilis hospital.

Through the bars is what was once a big customs area. Now it is full of truck carrying aid to the people on the other side.

There is a long-established refugee camp to one side of the crossing.

Refugees collect their rations of groceries Credit: ITV News

Syrians in shabby winter coats shuffle back and forth, carrying thin bags of groceries.

Occasionally they will stop and ask for news of the war, and whether the Turkish government might open the gates and let through the tens of thousands who have fled Aleppo.

Many have relatives among them.

They don't find many answers among the small crowd of reporters and camera operators which stand on one side of the road, their lenses trained on the gates, waiting for people who never come.