Hundreds of immigrants have begun from northwestern Turkey and are heading towards the country’s borders with Greece and Bulgaria, Turkish media reported, after a senior official said that Ankara would no longer stop refugees who want to reach Europe.
The Turkish state-run television network TRT and the private television station NTV broadcasted images of several dozen people portraying them as migrants heading towards the border with Greece.
The Demirören News Agency (DHA) reports that about 300 Syrians, Iraqis and even Iranian immigrants are heading to the border in Edirne (Adrianople).
According to the Sabah newspaper, which is affiliated with the Turkish government, the decision to “open the gates” by Turkey was taken during an extraordinary meeting of the Security Council held on Thursday night to Friday under the chairmanship of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
DHA also added that another group of immigrants has gathered on the coast of the Dardanelles to board on boats in order to come to Greece.
TRT also reported that dozens of people tried to cross the Kapikule border crossing to enter Bulgaria, but authorities there did not allow them the entry into Bulgarian territory.
Last night, a senior Turkish official told Reuters that Turkey has decided to stop preventing Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land and sea.
According to the same official, Turkish police, coastguards and border guards have been ordered to withdraw.
Source: ANA-MPA