Turkey has decided to no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land and sea, a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Thursday, in anticipation of the imminent arrival of refugees from Syria’s Idlib where nearly a million have been displaced.
Turkish police, coast guard and border security officials have been ordered to stand down, the Turkish official added. Earlier on Thursday, a local Turkish governor said an attack on the Turkish military in Idlib killed at least twenty-nine soldiers.
Several reports suggested that the casualties on the Turkish side would be higher, as dozens of soldiers were also wounded.
“Very sorry for the loss of TK soldiers lives and deeply concerned about recent developments around #Turkey #Idlib and #Refugees I do regret to repeat my recent statements: EU is far reliable than the new powerful Turkey’s friends. You’d better abandon unilateralism, is not paying,” Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, tweeted late Thursday.
