MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2020) Bulgaria is prepared to send up to 1,000 soldiers and up to 140 pieces of military equipment to the Turkish border in order to prevent the influx of illegal migrants to the Bulgarian territory, Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov said on Friday, hours after Turkey warned it would not further restrict the flow of Syrian migrants into Europe amid an escalation in Syria's Idlib.
Earlier in the day, Omer Celik, the spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, said, after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike by Syrian forces in the Idlib province, that Ankara was no longer able to restrain the flow of refugees from Syria to Europe.
"I declare, with strong commitment, that the military will fully cooperate and take all necessary measures to protect the country's border, and will not allow a single illegal migrant to the territory of Bulgaria. For this purpose, the Bulgarian army is ready to deploy up to 1000 troops and up to 140 pieces of the military equipment," Karakachanov wrote on Facebook.
Later on Friday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that Sofia tightened its border with Turkey amid the worsening of the situation over the Syrian migrants.
"We have data on a large number of migrants gathering in Edirne [the Turkish province that borders Bulgaria] ... We deployed the Gendarmerie along the border and strengthened it to the highest extent ... we are worried that the Turkish border guards have retreated. We hope that they moved deeper in the country in order to stop [migrants] there," Borissov said.
The prime minister said that Bulgaria was introducing strict entry and exit control procedures due to the spread of the coronavirus disease and could not allow thousands of migrants to cross its border.
In March 2016, Turkey and the European Union signed a landmark 6 billion euro ($6.6 billion) deal to help curb the Europe-bound migrant flow. Under the terms of the deal, Ankara is obliged to help stem the tide of migrants traveling through Turkey to reach the bloc in exchange for the accommodation of Syrian refugees in Europe on a one-for-one basis.
