Türkiye threatens to "drown" Europe in a sea of ​​migrants

(Baonghean.vn) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the West's policy on the migrant crisis and affirmed that his country is capable of "saying goodbye" to migrants. The threat was made in the context of European Union (EU) countries being afraid of the huge flow of people pouring into the continent.

Illustration photo. Source: Getty Images.

“We are not fools,” Erdogan said at a business summit in Ankara. “We will be patient, but we will do what needs to be done.”

Erdogan said the number of migrants could reach 600,000 in the coming time if the situation in Syria does not improve. “We are prepared for this possibility, and we will be patient to a certain extent, and then we will do what is necessary,” he added.

Erdogan hinted: “In the past we blocked people at the gates to Europe, in Edirne we blocked passenger vehicles. This will happen just a few more times and then we will open the gates and send them on their way, that is what I am saying.”

Earlier this week, the Greek website “euro2day” reported that the Turkish president told European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that the country could send migrants to Europe if it did not receive enough help in the crisis.

On February 11, Erdogan reinforced his earlier comments, saying: “I am proud of what I said. We defended the rights of Türkiye and the migrants. And we told the Europeans: sorry, we will open the doors and ‘farewell’ the migrants.”

Erdogan: only patient "to a certain extent". Photo: picture alliance.

Erdogan criticizes the United Nations

The president also criticized the United Nations (UN), after the international body called on Ankara to take in more than 30,000 migrants camped on the Syrian-Turkish border. “It’s a shame!” Erdogan said, adding that the UN had spent less than half a billion dollars on the crisis.

According to the leader, Türkiye has spent $9 billion to welcome migrants since the conflict in Syria began in 2011. The EU has promised to give the country 3 billion euros to deal with migrants, but the money has not yet been transferred.

Türkiye is currently hosting some 3 million migrants and wants to create a safe zone in northern Syria to protect civilians. Washington and its Western allies, meanwhile, believe that creating such a zone would put them at odds with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies.

The German-supplied ship Bonn is part of NATO's deployment in the Aegean Sea. Photo: dpa.

NATO to send ships to Aegean Sea

Meanwhile, NATO has agreed to send a naval group to the Aegean Sea to monitor the human trafficking that has brought hundreds of thousands of people into the EU over the past year. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the organization was “directing the standing naval group to move into the Aegean Sea immediately and to initiate maritime surveillance operations.” The group, which consists of three ships, is under German command.

“This move is not intended to deter migrants,” Mr Stoltenberg said, adding that the mechanism would help maintain control over people smugglers.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 770,365 people have crossed from Greece to Türkiye since the beginning of this year, of whom more than 300 have died trying to cross the Aegean Sea.

Thu Giang

(According to AP, Reuters)