Graphic toont aantallen nieuwe ontheemden bij de Syrische noordwestelijke grens met Turkije.


Turkije laat vluchtelingen naar Europa gaan nadat troepen werden gedood

February 28, 2020 - Turkije heeft gedreigd de grenscontroles op te heffen en vluchtelingen de
kans te geven naar Europa te reizen, nadat bij aan Damascus toegeschreven luchtaanvallen 33 Turkse soldaten in noordwest-Syrië werden gedood.

It was the highest number of Turkish soldiers killed in a single day since Ankara first intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2016.

The development was the most serious escalation in the conflict between Turkish and Russia-backed Syrian forces and raised the prospect of all-out war with millions of Syrian civilians trapped in the middle.

NATO envoys held emergency talks at the request of Turkey, a NATO member, and scores of migrants began converging on Turkey’s border with Greece seeking entry into Europe after Turkey said it was “no longer able to hold refugees.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country already hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, has long threatened to “open the gates” for millions of refugees eager to flee to Europe unless more international support was provided.

The latest crisis stems from a Russian-backed Syrian government military campaign to retake Syria’s Idlib province, which is the last opposition-held stronghold in Syria. The offensive, which began in December, has triggered the largest single wave of displacement in Syria’s nine-year war, sending nearly 950,000 people fleeing to areas near the Turkish border for safety. Ankara, the Syrian rebels’ last supporter, sealed its borders in 2015 and under a 2016 deal with the European Union agreed to step up efforts to halt the flow of refugees.

PUBLISHED: 28/02/2020; STORY: Graphic News
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