Nearly 10,000 migrants tried to cross into Greece from Turkey over the past 24 hours, a source in the Greek government said on Monday, days after Ankara said that it was no longer able to contain the flow of refugees between Syria and Europe with tensions in Syria's Idlib province escalating
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2020) Nearly 10,000 migrants tried to cross into Greece from Turkey over the past 24 hours, a source in the Greek government said on Monday, days after Ankara said that it was no longer able to contain the flow of refugees between Syria and Europe with tensions in Syria's Idlib province escalating.
"From 06:00 a.m. (04:00 GMT) on Sunday to 06:00 a.m. on Monday, sporadic attempts to cross into Greece were made along the border of Evros, either through holes in the fence or by crossing the river ... The Greek side prevented 9,877 attempts to cross the border. [Greek authorities] arrested 68 people and launched cases over illegal entry into the country," the source told reporters.
According to the source, Turkey continues to use tear gas and smoke bombs near the Greek town of Kastanies in an attempt to disperse Greek forces.
The escalation in Idlib began last week with members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terror group (banned in Russia) launching an offensive against the Syrian government forces, who returned fire. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Turkish soldiers, who were not supposed to be among the terrorists, were caught in the crossfire.
The fighting has resulted in a new wave of Syrian refugees seeking safe places in neighboring countries, including Turkey, which shares a border with Idlib province. On February 28, Turkey announced it was opening its borders with Greece and Bulgaria to allow refugees through.
