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Report: Turkey Says It Will Allow Syrian Refugees To Enter Europe

Migrants try to get on a bus which will take them to the Turkish-Greek border, in Istanbul

REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Turkey reportedly declared Friday that it will no longer block Syrian refugees from reaching Europe.

The decision came as a result of 33 Turkish soldiers dying in a Syrian airstrike in Syria’s northwestern Idlib area, Reuters reported Friday.

A migrant child reacts as migrants walk to the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Pazarkule, Turkey, Feb. 28, 2020. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

A migrant child reacts as migrants walk to the Turkey’s Pazarkule border crossing with Greece’s Kastanies, in Pazarkule, Turkey, Feb. 28, 2020. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

The attack reportedly prompted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call an emergency cabinet meeting in Ankara to discuss the situation. Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and Turkish force commanders are focusing their military action on the Syria-Turkey border, state media reported, according to Reuters. (RELATED: Russia And Turkey Edge Toward Showdown In Syria)

Turkey first entered Syria with a fully equipped military contingent last October when U.S. forces left the country. Erdogan is threatening a full-scale invasion unless Syria moves its military forces away from Turkish encampments, according to Reuters.

With the deaths of the 33 soldiers, Turkey has lost 54 personnel in Syria in February. President Donald Trump authorized sanctions against Turkey as a result of its invasion of Syria.

Turkish Communications Director Fahrettin Altun announced that land and air forces of Turkey are now attacking “all known” Syrian military targets to avenge the lethal airstrike.

Turkey has not released any further details of what these operations entail.

The conflict between Turkish-supported Syrian rebels and Russian-backed Syria has reportedly resulted in another one million refugees fleeing the fighting, sparking yet another humanitarian crisis in the nine-year-long civil war. (RELATED: US Bombs Its Own Base In Syria To Prevent NATO Ally Turkey From Using It)

Turkish soldiers patrol the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Tal Abyad, on the border between Syria and Turkey, on October 23, 2019. - Moscow's forces in Syria headed for the border with Turkey today to ensure Kurdish fighters are pulling back after a Turkish-Russian deal wrested control of the Kurds' entire heartland. Kurdish forces, who controlled close to a third of Syria two weeks ago, have now lost almost everything, after the agreement signed in Sochi granted Turkey the right to remain fully deployed in an Arab-majority area that was the main target of an offensive launched on October 9. (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkish soldiers patrol the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Tal Abyad, on the border between Syria and Turkey, on October 23, 2019. (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

As Turkey anticipates more refugees arriving from Syria, Turkey has reportedly decided to allow the mass of humanity to pass unhindered.

“We have decided, effective immediately, not to stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land or sea,” an anonymous Turkish senior government official told Reuters.