Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday threatened Europe with allowing millions of refugees and migrants to flow into its territory.
And the Turkish "Anatolia" agency quoted him as saying in an activity of his "Justice and Development" party, today: "Since our borders were opened to refugees, the number of people pouring into European countries has reached hundreds of thousands, and this number will reach millions."
He stressed that his country is determined not to bear a sustainable burden for millions of refugees on its borders and fleeing Syria.
He said, "Turkey is fighting in Syria to secure its lands and end the humanitarian crisis that millions of Syrians are suffering from."
Erdogan had announced that his country would keep its doors open to refugees wishing to go to Europe, stressing that Turkey had no energy to absorb a new wave of immigration.
The head of the communication department in the Turkish presidency, Fakhruddin Alton, said that his country, which hosts 3.6 million Syrians, "has no other choice but to reduce its efforts to contain the pressure of the refugee influx, after the military escalation in the Idlib province of Syria."
Turkey stepped up its stance after killing at least 35 of its soldiers and wounding dozens in air strikes in northwestern Syria last Thursday.