Turkey tries to justify the influx of refugees and migrants to Greece with the situation in Idlib and Syria. “The influx of migrants from Turkey towards Europe will continue if the situation in Idlib, Syria continues to worsen,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday. What it did not say is that many of those flocking to the land borders with Greece, speak …Turkish – as footage by Turkish media showed – and are therefore refugees who have been in the country for quite some time.
“The latest developments in Idlib, which caused hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced, have further increased the current migration pressure on our country. These developments are followed by our people and the world, and also affect the refugees and migrants in our country,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said refugees in Turkey concerned by the latest developments have begun flocking towards Turkey’s western borders, towards Europe.
“If the situation exacerbates, this risk will further increase,” the statement said.
“As the world’s largest refugee hosting country, there is no change in Turkey’s policy towards refugees and asylum seekers,” the statement concluded.
On Thursday, government spokesman Omer Celik said in an interview with CNN Turk that “Europe broke its promise to help migrants in Turkey as well as help Turkey stem further migrant waves,” and that therefore Ankara “would no longer try to stop irregular migrants from reaching Europe.”
