EU countries wary as Turkey cites open European borders

Tensions escalate after deadly day of fighting last week.

ANKARA, TURKEY — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday his country’s borders with Europe were open, as thousands of refugees gathered at the frontier with Greece.

Migrants played a cat-andmouse game with Greek border patrols throughout the night and into Saturday, some cutting holes in the fence only to be turned back by tear gas and stun grenades. Greek authorities also fired tear gas to repulse attempts by the crowd to push through the border.

The move by Turkey to open its border, first announced Thursday, was seen in Greece as a deliberate attempt to pressure European countries. It comes as tensions ratcheted up between Turkey and Syria. More than 55 Turkish troops have been killed since Turkey began sending further reinforcements into areas of northwest Syria under the control of rebels, which are backed by Turkey.

“We will not close the gates to refugees,” Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. “The European Union has to keep its promises.”

If Erdogan really has opened the border, it would be a dramatic departure from Turkey’s policy. Under a 2016 deal, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid. It has since protested that the EU has failed to honor the agreement.

Erdogan was speaking for the first time since 33 Turkish

soldiers were killed in air strikes in northwest Syria on Thursday, the largest single loss of life for Turkish forces since their country became involved in Syria in 2016.

The Turkish troop deaths led officials to declare Turkey would not impede refugees seeking to enter Europe.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, while many fleeing war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East use it as a staging post and transit point to reach Europe, usually through neighboring

Greece.

On Saturday, small groups managed to get across into Greece clandestinely. The vast majority were from Afghanistan, and most were men, although there were also some families with young children. They took shelter during the night in abandoned buildings or small chapels in the Greek countryside before starting to walk towards northern Greek.

Erdogan has frequently threatened to “open the gates” and allow refugees and migrants to head to

Europe unless more international support was provided, particularly at times of tension with European countries.

Thursday’s deaths were the most serious escalation between Turkish and Russian-backed Syrian forces. The development has raised the prospect of an all-out war with millions of Syrian civilians trapped in the middle.

Syrian government forces have been on a weekslong offensive into the Idlib province, the country’s last rebel stronghold, which borders Turkey. Thousands of Turkish soldiers are deployed inside rebel-controlled areas of Idlib province, which is dominated by al-Qaida linked militants.

The Idlib offensive has pushed nearly 950,000 displaced civilians toward the Syria-Turkey border amid cold winter weather.

Turkey currently hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, while many fleeing war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East use it as a staging post and transit point to reach Europe, usually through neighboring Greece.

ASSOCIATED PRESS During a funeral ceremony Saturday in Hatay, Turkey, mourners surround the coffin of Emin Yildirim, one of the 33 Turkish soldiers killed Thursday in a Syrian army attack in the Idlib area of Syria, in the worst single incidence of loss of life for Turkey since it entered the Syrian conflict in 2016.