Immigration security

Turkey vows to ‘open the gates’ to flood Europe with Syrian refugees

Turkey’s president vows to send millions of refugees to Europe if its countries do not back his proposal to settle them in a Syrian “safe zone.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned he would “open the gates” for asylum-seekers if European countries failed to support his plans to resettle them in Syria’s northeast, the Independent reported.

“If Turkey’s plans for the return [of the refugees] … is not supported, we will have no choice but to open our borders,” Erdogan warned.

Turkey already hosts about 3.6 million Syrians who fled conflict in their homeland, but wants to send up to 2 million back across the border.

Earlier this month, Erdogan told European leaders he would “send 3.6 million refugees your way” in retaliation for international criticism of his country’s military operation in northern Syria.