Erdogan Opens Gate, Syrian Refugees Invade Greece
First 18,000 Syrian refugees cross Greek border amid fresh tear gas clashes with guards after Turkish president Erdogan vowed to open doors to Europe and KEEP them open
(daily mail uk Feb 29 2020) (10 page article and dozens of pics)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8059179/Turkish-president-Erdogan-vows-doors-open-Syrian-refugees-heading-Europe.html
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to keep borders open for Syrian refugees headed for Europe as the first 18,000 cross the Greek border and migrants clash for the second day with guards.
'What did we do yesterday (Friday)? We opened the doors,' Erdogan said in Istanbul in his first comments since 33 Turkish troops were killed in northern Syria on Thursday. 'We will not close those doors …Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises.'
The Turkish leader also said 18,000 migrants have amassed on the Turkish borders with Europe since Friday, adding that the number could reach as many as 30,000 on Saturday.
Migrants played a cat-and-mouse game with Greek border patrols throughout the night and into Saturday, with some cutting holes in the fence only to be turned back by tear gas and stun grenades. Greek authorities also fired tear gas to repulse attempts by the crowd to push through the border.
The move by Turkey to open its border, first announced Thursday, was seen in Greece as a deliberate attempt to pressure European countries. It comes as tensions ratcheted up between Turkey and Syria. More than 55 Turkish troops have been killed since Turkey began sending further reinforcements into areas of northwest Syria under the control of rebels, which are backed by Turkey.
'We will not close the gates to refugees,' Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. 'The European Union has to keep its promises.'
As Turkey's 'strongman' president, the act of defiance against Europe will help Erdogan's domestic popularity. It is also a response to what he sees as a reneging on NATO and EU promises.
Turkey, which is already home to around 3.6 million Syrian refugees, fears more people arriving in the country where there is growing popular discontent against their presence.
While there are four official crossing points from Turkey into Europe, two for both Bulgaria and Greece, a number of other unsanctioned crossing points have seen a steady flow of Syrian refugees entering the continent.
'We are not in a situation to handle a new wave of refugees' from Syria, Erdogan said.
If Erdogan really has opened the border, it would be a dramatic departure from Turkey's current policy. Under a 2016 deal, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid. It has since protested that the EU has failed to honor the agreement.
Scenes from the border show people navigating through wire fences and wading through freezing rivers to get to Greece, reminiscent of scenes from the 2015 refugee crisis.
Erdogan was speaking for the first time since 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in air strikes in northwest Syria on Thursday, the largest single loss of life for Turkish forces since their country became involved in Syria in 2016.
The Turkish troop deaths led officials to declare Turkey would not impede refugees seeking to enter Europe.
Since seizing territory from Kurdish forces in a different part of Syria in October, Erdogan has also suggested resettling at least a million Syrian refugees from Turkey in that northeastern region.
However, his efforts to secure funding for such a scheme have been rejected by European governments. Aid groups have also said it is still too dangerous to send refugees back to Syria.
Turkey currently hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and many fleeing war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East use it as a staging post and transit point to reach Europe, usually through neighboring Greece.
Greece, which has tense relations with its neighbour Turkey at the best of times and was a primary gateway for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016, reiterated it would keep migrants out.
'The government will do whatever it takes to protect its borders,' government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.
(continued in link… lots of able bodied men pics… oops teenagers)