Refugee Crisis: Child Hands Flower To Turkish Riot Police Officer In Symbolic Gesture Of Hope

As millions of refugees escaping from war-torn countries are displaced across the globe, small signs of hope can still be found.

One little girl has been caught in one of these moments - in a powerful photograph - offering a singular flower to an officer in a wall of heavily armoured Turkish police.

The unknown child, caught at Istanbul's Esenler Bus Terminal, is symbolic at a time where more than half of those fleeing as refugees are children.

A small child hands out a flower to riot police in Istanbul

Riot police at the scene were blocking the access to the road and the ticket office for the Turkey-Greece border towns when the photo was taken on September 15.

Scenes in Turkey's capital are still tense as the police have continued to block hundreds of refugees, mostly Syrians, trying to reach Europe overland from Turkey outside Istanbul.

The group has been stuck for the past week at Istanbul's main bus station.

Because of this halt, a group of refugees started to march towards the north-western city of Edirne, which is 150 miles away.

The destination of Edirne is just six miles from the Greek border and 12 miles from the Bulgarian frontier and because of this it has become the new crosspoint for desperate migrants trying to reach Europe.

Another child gives flowers to an officer of the Turkish riot police, making him crack a smile in Istambul

Demands of free travel to Europe has been met with violence by riot police, who used batons to repel a group of people chanting "open the door" while trying to break through the lines, according to the IBT.

Despite their efforts Edirne's governor has warned that any refugee trying to smuggle their way into Europe will be returned to refugee camps in southern Turkey.

In 2014, the country hosting the largest number of refugees was Turkey, with 1.59 million refugees.

By the end of 2014, Syria had become the world’s top source country of refugees, overtaking Afghanistan, which had held this position for more than three decades.

Today, on average, almost one out of every four refugees is Syrian, with 95 per cent located in surrounding countries.