Erdoğan: I’ll let Syrian refugees leave Turkey for west unless safe zone set up

Source:the Guardian Date:06Sep2019

“We will be forced to open the gates. We cannot be forced to handle the burden alone,” said the Turkish president.

Erdoğan’s threat immediately sent tremors through Greece where authorities have reported a huge surge in recent numbers arriving on Aegean isles facing the Turkish coast.

More than 12,000 would-be asylum seekers landed in Greece in July and August.

Last week some 650 arrived in a single day on Lesbos, with the country’s civil protection minister telling the Guardian that smugglers had become increasingly brazen, deploying “much better and faster” boats to make the crossing from Turkey.

Erdoğan has become increasingly angry with Washington and the EU over the issue of Syrian refugees, claiming that Turkey has spent $40bn supporting them, and criticising western countries, including the European Union, for failing to live up to their promises.