Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened this Saturday to leave the doors of Europe open to migrants, as he seeks Western support against the Syrian regime which he has promised to "pay the price" for his military attacks Ankara. At the border between Turkey and Greece where thousands of people wanting to go to Europe flocked, the situation was very tense, with scuffles between Greek police firing tear gas canisters and migrants throwing stones.
Thousands of migrants, including Afghans, Iraqis and Syrians, spent the night at the border, gathering around makeshift braziers near the Pazarkule border crossing (Kastanies, Greek side), according to correspondents of the AFP. Faced with these scenes that awaken the specter of the serious migration crisis that made Europe tremble in 2015, Greece and Bulgaria - also neighboring Turkey - have closed their border.
4,000 migrants rejected
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 18,000 people had "forced the doors" to cross into Europe on Friday, anticipating a wave of "30,000 people" on Saturday, figures which seem overvalued compared to what AFP journalists saw on the ground. Athens said Saturday it had prevented 4,000 migrants from Turkey from entering Greece "illegally".
Turkey, which in 2016 signed a pact with Brussels to reduce the flow of migrants, especially to Greece, opened its borders on Friday to put pressure on Europe to get more support in Syria. Ankara has suffered its heaviest casualties there since the start of its deployment in Syria in 2016, with 33 soldiers killed in air strikes attributed to the Moscow-backed Bashar al-Assad regime in Idleb in northwestern Syria. Another Turkish soldier was killed on Friday.
Turkish forces responded and claimed on Saturday that they had destroyed a "chemical weapons facility". According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), an NGO, at least 48 Syrian soldiers and 14 combatants from Hezbollah, an ally of Damascus, were killed in Turkish strikes.
" Step aside "
“We would have preferred not to get there. But since they pushed us there, then they will pay the price, ”said Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As relations between Ankara and Moscow deteriorate rapidly due to the Idleb crisis, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has toughened his tone towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he has nevertheless endeavored to cultivate a close personal relationship since 2016 .
In a telephone interview on Friday, "I said to Mr. Putin," What are you doing there (in Syria)? If you want to set up a base, go ahead, but get out of the way. Leave us alone with the regime, "said the Turkish president. More conciliatory, the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, said on Saturday that the Russians and Turks had expressed the wish for a "reduction of tensions" in Syria during meetings between senior officials of the two countries in recent days. According to the Kremlin, the two presidents could meet in Moscow next week.
In recent weeks, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly urged Syrian forces to withdraw from certain areas in Idleb by the end of February, threatening to force him if not. In theory, this deadline expires at midnight on Saturday. The Syrian regime, supported by Moscow, has been waging an offensive since December to retake the province of Idleb, the last rebel and jihadist stronghold. On the ground, clashes between rebels and the regime continued on Saturday around the strategic city of Saraqeb, in the south of the province of Idleb, according to the OSDH, which however notes a reduction in the intensity of the Russian and Turkish bombardments .
"Keep your promises"
The fighting and bombing caused a humanitarian disaster, leaving nearly a million displaced in Idleb. The conflict in Syria has killed more than 380,000 people since 2011. The situation in Idleb is causing serious concern to the humanitarian community, which on Friday multiplied calls for the end of hostilities. But beyond verbal solidarity, Ankara is now asking for concrete help.
"We will not be able to face a new wave of refugees" from Idleb, warned Erdogan on Saturday, accusing the European Union of not having provided all the financial aid promised to welcome the refugees in Turkey. "Europe needs to keep its promises (...) If you are sincere, then you have to take your share of the burden," he said.
At the Greek border, where the clouds of tear gas mixed with the acrid smoke of campfires, the migrants waited for the opportunity to pass. “The Greeks have closed the border (…) If they do not reopen it, then we will try to smuggle it. Returning to Istanbul is out of the question, ”said Ahmad Barhoum, a Syrian refugee who spent the night there.
An Egyptian migrant who requested anonymity tells AFP that he is awaiting "a decision by the European Union's patron Angela Merkel", the German chancellor whose country had welcomed several hundred thousand people during the migration crisis in 2015.
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