Turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has again threatened to open the borders to europe for syrian refugees. Ankara cannot shoulder a possible further influx of refugees from syria on its own, erdogan said on saturday.
He had already made similar remarks in a speech in ankara on thursday. There is "a new migration threat" from the last syrian rebel stronghold of idlib along the turkish border, erdogan said. He appealed to the EU to provide sufficient financial support.
"Either you share this load or we have to open the gates," said erdogan. He argued that the EU has not yet fully delivered on its promise of financial aid.
The EU recently stressed that it has so far allocated 5.6 of the promised 6 billion euros to improve the living conditions of syrian refugees in turkey. The rest will follow soon, a spokeswoman said. Turkey has taken in around 3.6 million refugees since the start of the civil war in neighboring syria in 2011, more than any other country in the world.
From friday to saturday noon alone, 424 migrants crossed to the islands and thus also to the EU, according to greek police data. In the registration camps designed for 6000 people on the islands of lesbos, chios, samos, leros and kos, more than 24 refugees are already waiting.000 people. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, 8103 people left turkey for the greek agais islands in august. In august 2018, there were just under 3200.
The EU-turkey refugee pact signed in march 2016 stipulates that the EU can send back any migrants who arrive illegally on the greek islands via turkey. At the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, there were days when around 7,000 migrants reached the greek islands via Turkey.