Erdogan warns ‘millions of refugees’ will move to Turkey’s border with EU

 

Erdogan addressing his supporters in Ankara, during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the 2016 attempted coup against his rule (Photo by Umit Bektas / Reuters)

The dire situation in Syria’s Idlib province caused by fighting between Syrian government forces and Turkish troops and Turkish-backed militias has created a wave of refugees trying to flee the conflict. In recent days, Turkey has announced the opening of its borders with Europe, citing its inability to take in any more refugees.

“Millions of refugees” will soon be moving toward Turkey’s borders with the European Union , Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.

“The period of Turkey’s unilateral self-sacrifice in relation to the refugees has come to an end,” Erdogan said, speaking in Ankara on Monday. “Since we have opened the borders, the number of refugees heading toward Europe has reached hundreds of thousands. This number will soon be in the millions,” he warned.

Ankara announced the opening of its borders to Europe for refugees late last week, citing its inability to take in any more refugees amid the ongoing fighting in Idlib, Syria.

The announcement prompted Greece to step up efforts to protect its borders, with Greek border police using tear gas and stun grenades to try to stop migrants from entering the country. On Friday, Turkey’s interior ministry reported that over 47,000 people managed to make it into the EU. A day later, the ministry upped the figure to 76,000.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would express “full solidarity” with Greece and Bulgaria as they face the migrant influx, and promised to provide the two countries with “immediate assistance to protect borders.”

Turkey signed a deal with Brussels in 2016 which committed Ankara to stop the refugee flow into Europe in exchange for financial assistance from Europe. However, in the years since, Ankara has repeatedly accused the bloc of not doing enough to provide aid and resettlement assistance for EU-bound migrants.

Turkey opened its western borders to would-be migrants amid the escalating conflict in the renegade Syrian province of Idlib, where tens of thousands of militants and Turkish forces have been engaged in a major conflict, putting the lives of the up to 3 million civilians estimated to be concentrated in the region at risk.

The conflict began late last year, when, after repeated deadly attacks on Syrian forces by Nusra* militants prompted Damascus to launch an offensive in the province. Tensions escalated in early February, after multiple Turkish troops were killed in a Syrian artillery attack which struck a Turkish observation post. 33 more Turkish troops were killed last week after the Syrian Army moved to repell a large-scale terrorist offensive in the area where they happened to be stationed.

In his speech Monday, Erdogan warned Syria that it must withdraw from Idlib “to the lines Turkey has determined as soon as possible,” or be left without “a head on their shoulders.”

Erdogan plans to travel to Moscow on Thursday to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Idlib crisis.

Source: Sputnik