Migrants rush border as Greek army deploys

Thousands of migrants were trying to find a way across Turkey’s western border with Greece yesterday, with only dozens managing to pass through either border fences or fording rivers, after Turkey opened its side of the frontier to migrants and refugees to leave the country for Europe.

Turkey declared its borders open to pressure the European Union into helping it handle the fallout from the war in neighboring Syria. Thousands of Turkish troops are supporting the last rebel forces holed up there in the northwestern province of Idlib against the onslaught of Russian-backed Syrian government forces.

The offensive into the last Syrian rebel areas has driven almost one million civilians to flee toward the sealed border with Turkey, threatening that country which hosts already 3.5 million Syrian refugees with a new and dramatic influx of displaced people.

Thousands of migrants have massed at the Turkish-Greek border since the border opening, and hundreds more crossed from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in dinghies over the weekend.

 

Migrants rush border as Greek army deploys

Thousands of migrants were trying to find a way across Turkeys western border with Greece yesterday, with only dozens managing to pass through either border fences or fording rivers, after Turkey opened its side of the frontier to migrants and refugees to leave the country for Europe. Turkey declared its borders open to pressure the European Union into helping it handle the fallout from the war in neighboring Syria. Thousands of Turkish troops are supporting the last rebel forces holed up there in the northwestern province of Idlib against the onslaught of Russian-backed Syrian government forces. The offensive into the last Syrian rebel areas has driven almost one million civilians to flee toward the sealed border with Turkey, threatening that country which hosts already 3.5 million Syrian refugees with a new and dramatic influx of displaced people. Thousands of migrants have massed at the Turkish-Greek border since the border opening, and hundreds more crossed from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in dinghies over the weekend.