Adressing ata meeting of provincial heads of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the capital Ankara, President Erdoğan stressed that Turkey may open the borders for Syrian refugees to let them get suuport from EU countries.
Erdoğan stressed that Turkey has not gotten the support it needs, especially from the EU, on sharing the refugee burden.
“NEITHER A THREAT NOR A BLUFF”
“We may have to let them cross into Europe to get support,” Erdoğan added. Erdoğan added that Turkey aims to settle at least 1 million of the Syrians it took in since 2011 in its planned safe zone along Turkey’s border with Syria, he added.
Turkey currently hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world, but has also helped Syrians voluntarily resettle in areas made safe by the Turkish military.
After Erdoğan’s warning on opening gates of Europe for the refugees, Vice President Fuat Oktay sais that thinking that Turkey will bear a new migrant flow is “wrong”.
“This is neither a threat nor a bluff. This is a reality,” Oktay said during his visit to Italy. “Turkey is not any other country’s guardian, nor their migrant center. It is not the country that will pay the bill for the crises that [the other countries] create,” he added.