Thousands of migrants and refugees on Sunday massed at Turkey’s western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe.
In Syria, Turkish troops shot down two Syrian warplanes after the Syrian military downed a Turkish drone, a major escalation in the direct conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces.
Turkey’s decision to ease border restrictions came amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Idlib Province. That offensive has killed dozens of Turkish troops and led to a surge of nearly 1 million Syrian civilians fleeing the fighting toward Turkey’s sealed border.
Photo: AP
Turkey backs the Syrian rebels fighting in Idlib and has sent thousands of troops into the area. Idlib is the last opposition-held stronghold in Syria, and is dominated by al-Qaeda linked fighters.
A Turkish official said the fighting in Idlib was directly linked to Turkey’s decision to open the gates for refugees to Europe. He said Ankara had changed its focus to preparing for the possibility of new arrivals from Syria “instead of preventing refugees who intend to migrate to Europe.”
“Europe and others must take robust action to address this monumental challenge,” said Fahrettin Altun, communications director for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We can’t be expected to do this on our own.”
Erdogan’s decision to open his country’s borders with Europe made good on a longstanding threat to let refugees into the continent. His announcement marked a dramatic departure from a previous policy of containment, an apparent attempt to pressure Europe into offering Turkey more support in dealing with the fallout from the Syrian war to its south.
Under a 6 billion euro (US$6.65 billion) deal in 2016, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid, after more than 1 million people entered Europe in 2015.
Turkey has since accused the EU of failing to honor the agreement, and Erdogan has frequently threatened to allow refugees into Europe unless more international support was provided.
Turkey already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, as well as many others from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
On the Greek-Turkish land border, Greek army and police patrols used tear gas and stun grenades to thwart attempts by thousands to push into the country overnight.
Officials said the situation was much calmer on Sunday morning, but in the afternoon, authorities used tear gas and water cannons to push back another crowd attempting to cross. Migrants threw rocks and other objects, and one policeman was injured.
Greek authorities said they stopped about 10,000 crossing attempts on Saturday, and another 5,500 on Sunday.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday evening convened the defense and foreign affairs committee. Afterward, a government spokesman said that Greece was starting a one-month freeze on accepting asylum applications from migrants who enter illegally.
Europe’s border agency Frontex said it was “redeploying equipment and additional officers to Greece.”
A Greek government official said the Turkish authorities also fired teargas at the Greek border, using drones flying close to the border. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
Stavros Zamalides, the president of the Greek border community of Kastanies, said Turkish soldiers used wire cutters to actively help people cross.
The UN migration organization reported at least 13,000 people had massed on Turkey’s land border by Saturday night, the vast majority apparently from Afghanistan.
In Istanbul, a steady stream of buses, taxis, cars and minibuses were ferrying hundreds more throughout Sunday to Edirne, a town near the border with Greece. The vehicles wee not part of any regular bus route.
Those boarding the buses — the vast majority Afghans — said they were heading to Greece and eventually hoped to get to Germany.
On the Greek islands, more than 500 people had arrived from the nearby Turkish coast by Sunday evening, a clear increase in the usual number of people who arrive on eastern Aegean islands from Turkey.
Existing migrant camps on the islands are already dramatically overcrowded, and tensions there have mounted.
In a small harbor on Lesbos, angry local residents refused to allow migrants — including families with young children and babies — to disembark from a dinghy that had just arrived. Groups who arrived on other parts of the island remained there for hours because locals prevented buses from reaching them to transport them to the main camp.
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