Official: Turkey won't stop Syrian refugees from going to Europe

(Image credit: Aaref Watad/AFP via Getty Images)

published 28 February 2020

A senior Turkish official on Thursday said Turkey will no longer attempt to stop Syrian refugees heading to Europe.

"We have decided, effective immediately, not to stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land or sea," the unidentified official told Reuters. "All refugees, including Syrians, are now welcome to cross into the European Union."

There are 3.7 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, and in 2016, the European Union agreed to send the country billions of Euros in aid with the understanding that Turkey would prevent the migrants from going on to Europe. Now, as fighting has intensified in Syria's Idlib province and hundreds of thousands of Syrians are displaced, the burden of housing refugees is "too heavy for any single country to carry," the official told Reuters.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

In Idlib, Turkish-backed rebels have been trying to keep control of territory they seized from the Syrian government, supported by Russia. On Thursday, a Syrian government airstrike in Idlib killed at least 33 Turkish soldiers, a Turkish official said. In response, Turkish air and land support units are firing on "all known" Syrian government targets, according to Fahrettin Altun, Turkey's communications director.

Explore More

Zurich Speed Reads

To continue reading this article...

Create a free account

Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.

Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.

Cancel or pause at any time.

Already a subscriber to The Week?

Unlimited website access is included with Digital and Print + Digital subscriptions.
with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.

Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox