'Islamist' Turkey announces new wave of 50,000 Syrian refugees to head for Europe. (BG).
A senior government official said Turkey, which is a staunch opponent of Assad and has been incensed by Russia's intervention in support of him, has been expecting new refugee movements because Moscow's air strikes had targeted relatively stable parts of Syria where civilians were sheltering.
Both Kınık and the government official said many would try to smuggle themselves on to Europe, as Turkey? and its European partners struggle to combat people-trafficking networks.
"Our worry is the changing profile of the refugees. Migrants who came to Turkey in the past had the hope of returning and saw Turkey as a temporary home," the official said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
"Now it has become a transit location. The final destination is Europe...which is why steps must be taken to restore calm in Syria. There's little point trying to address the symptoms without solving the main problem."
Turkey is under pressure from the European Union, which it aspires to join, to do more to keep refugees on its soil and help stem the biggest migration movement the continent has seen since World War Two. The EU has proposed financial aid and faster membership for Turkey in the hope of winning its help.
But it is already sheltering more than 2.2 million refugees and while its wants more funding, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Monday Turkey should not be expected to turn itself into a "concentration camp" for refugees. Read the full story here.
#Turkey's @RT_Erdogan tells @eucopresident & @JunckerEU: Imagine if we open the gates and let these people to go to Europe
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 22, 2015
President @RT_Erdogan says he met with @eucopresident & @JunckerEU and all have come to point of saying they are in need of #Turkey
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 22, 2015
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