Erdogan warns 'millions' of refugees heading into Europe, Ankara will not stop them

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara has no plans to stop the flow of migrants into the European Union (EU), warning that “millions of refugees” will soon be moving toward Turkey’s borders with the bloc.

“The period of Turkey's unilateral self-sacrifice in relation to the refugees has come to an end,” Erdogan said in a televised speech on Monday, adding, “Since we have opened the borders, the number of refugees heading toward Europe has reached hundreds of thousands. This number will soon be in the millions.”

The Turkish president also called on Europe to help take responsibility for the migrant crisis triggered by violence in the region.

“After we opened the doors, there were multiple calls saying 'close the doors',” he said. “I told them, 'It's done. It's finished. The doors are now open. Now, you (Europe) will have to take your share of the burden.'”

Turkey on Thursday relaxed curbs on the migrants’ movement through its borders and said Ankara would no longer prevent hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory from reaching Europe despite an agreement struck with the EU in 2016, under which Ankara was committed to stop the refugee flow into Europe in exchange for financial assistance from Europe.

EU border force on 'high alert' as migrants push to enter continent

The European Union border force Frontex has announced that it is on "high alert" across all the bloc’s borders with Turkey as thousands of migrants seek to enter the continent.

Ankara complains that funds promised by the EU to help it deal with the 3.7 million Syrian refugees already in the country have been slow to arrive. Turkey’s government had warned in the past that it would open the floodgates if it did not receive more funding.

The massing of migrants has caused fears of a repeat of the 2015 European migrant crisis, in which more than one million people crossed into Europe, most of them fleeing conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa.

Nearly 13,000 refugees have been blocked from entering Greece since the Turkish president said his country would allow refugees into Europe in an attempt to pressure the EU governments over the conflict in Syria across its southern border.

Erdogan also expressed hope on Monday to reach a deal on a ceasefire in Syria when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the week following intense fighting in the last bastion of terrorists in the northwestern province of Idlib.

EU: Turkey must not let migrants into Europe

Meanwhile, European Union's chief executive Ursula von der Leyen expressed sympathy on Monday with Turkey over the refugee crisis but said it was impermissible for Ankara to allow migrants on its territory to cross into Europe.

"I acknowledge that Turkey is in a difficult situation with regard to the refugees and the migrants. But what we see now cannot be an answer or solution," she told a news conference in Brussels.

Von der Leyen is to visit the Greek-Turkish border on Tuesday, and Boyko Borissov, the prime minister of Bulgaria, which also shares a border with Turkey, is scheduled to meet Erdogan in Ankara later on Monday.

Greek police clashed over the weekend with thousands of migrants seeking to enter the EU from Turkey.

Greek police fire tear gas on migrants at border with Turkey

Greek police have fired tear gas at migrants who had gathered on its border with Turkey in an attempt to prevent them from entering the country.

Greek authorities said on Monday that they thwarted 9,877 attempts to cross the northeastern border over the past 24 hours and at least 68 people had been arrested on charges of illegal entry into the country.

Turkey using refugees to pressure EU 'unacceptable': Merkel

Later on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted to Erdogan’s remarks, saying that it was "unacceptable" for Turkey to pressure the EU "on the backs of refugees."

"I find it completely unacceptable that... President Erdogan and his government did not bring their dissatisfaction to us at the EU, but instead duked it out on the backs of refugees," Merkel told a Berlin press conference.

Also on Monday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the EU expects Turkey to uphold the 2016 agreement and prevent migrants from reaching the bloc.

"We are currently experiencing a very worrying situation at the EU's external borders with Turkey, on land and at sea. We are seeing refugees and migrants who are told by the Turkish side that the way into the EU is now open, and of course it is not," Seibert told reporters in Berlin.

"This puts these people, men, women and children, in an extremely difficult situation, and it also presents Greece with enormous challenges. The German government is aware of all this," he added. "We are convinced about the value of the agreement and we expect it to be upheld."

EU migration commissioner: 'No one can blackmail' Europe

Reacting to Erdogan's remarks later on Monday, the EU's migration commissioner warned Turkey that the European Union would not be intimidated or blackmailed over flow of refugees into its soil.

"Each time the EU is tested as it is now, unity must prevail," said Margaritis Schinas in Berlin, underlining that "no one can blackmail or intimidate the EU."

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