Turkey: Erdogan directly threatens Europeans to open the floodgates to refugees

Greek police patrol on February 28 along the Turkish border to prevent the passage of refugees or migrants from Turkey. REUTERS / Alexandros Avramidis

Text by: RFI Follow

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened this Saturday to leave the doors of Europe open to migrants and refugees welcomed on Turkish soil, raising the specter of the 2015 migration crisis among his European neighbors.

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It was the first time that the Turkish president spoke since Thursday's attack which resulted in the death of more than thirty Turkish soldiers in strikes by the Damascus regime to which Russia is allied, specifies our correspondent at Istanbul, Anne Andlauer . Turkey is demanding international support for Russia and Syria as it has suffered its heaviest losses since the start of its intervention in Syria in 2016. To put pressure on the European Union and the Nato, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is brandishing the threat of a new flow of migrants to Europe. It is about sowing panic in Western capitals.

" We are not going to close the doors, " said the Turkish president, saying that 18,000 migrants had already crossed the border since Friday. In fact, the Turkish authorities allow Syrian refugees and irregular migrants to board buses bound for Edirne, for the land border, or for Izmir and Çanakkale, for the maritime border. Several concordant sources also claim that the Turkish police, gendarmes, customs officers and coast guards have been ordered to turn a blind eye to the smugglers' activities and therefore to the hundreds of people who flock to the gates of Europe .

Thousands of migrants, including Afghans, Iraqis and Syrians, spent the night at the border, AFP correspondents still report, gathering around makeshift braziers near the Turkish border crossing at Pazarkule. Athens said it had prevented 4,000 migrants from Turkey from entering Greece "illegally".

Recall that in May 2016 Turkey signed a pact with the European Union aimed at reducing the passage of migrants, particularly to Greece.

Read also : Turkey threatens Europe with a flow of migrants, Athens strengthens its border

(and with AFP)

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  • Turkey
  • Syria
  • Russia
  • International Migration
  • refugees

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