Turkish President Thursday threatened to let millions of Syrian refugees in his country to head to Europe after France, Germany and several other countries criticized the Turkish army offensive in Northeastern Syria and described it as an invasion. Ankara would allow millions of refugees to head to Europe if the bloc insists on its baseless criticisms against Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned the EU Thursday. Turkey seeks to establish a safe zone there where it will relocate 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey. According to official figures, disclosed by pro-government Daily Sabah, Ankara has so far spent $40 billion on the refugees. Another aim of the military operation is to establish a “safe zone” in which at least 1 million Syrian refugees can be repatriated.

Source: The North Africa Journal October 11, 2019 12:56 UTC