Iran Press/ Middle East: President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, Ankara will send the 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey to Europe if European countries label the country’s military operation in Syria as an occupation.
He stated: "We will open the gates and send 3.6 million refugees your way,” Erdogan said, according to Reuters, while speaking to officials from his ruling AK Party."
A Turkish offensive in northern Syria has been underway since Wednesday, with airstrikes and artillery fire targeting U.S.-allied Kurdish forces on the ground.
Erdogan has pledged to clear the area of “terrorists,” and says his aim is to allow a path for the return of Syrian refugees in Turkey to go back home.
Ankara has long vowed to wipe out the Kurdish militia presence along its border in northern Syria, which it views as a security threat and indistinguishable from a separate Kurdish terrorist group that is waging a counterinsurgency inside Turkey. 205/219
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