President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to allow refugees to travel on to Europe from Turkey, which he said can no longer handle new waves of people fleeing war-torn Syria.
“What did we do yesterday (Friday)? We opened the doors,” Erdogan said on Saturday 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.
Meanwhile, thousands of migrants stuck on the Turkey-Greece border clashed with Greek police on Saturday.
Greek police fired tear gas at the migrants who have amassed at a border crossing in the western Turkish province of Edirne, some of whom responded by hurling stones at the officers.
More details soon…
