Turkey is not obliged to take care of Syrian migrants on its own, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Saturday, as he highlighted that his country approaches refugees fleeing war with mercy.
The Bulgarian leader noted that European countries need to immediately provide support to Turkey so that the country can accept and shelter refugees, according to the state broadcaster.
He said he will have a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday and will take the initiative to call for a European Union leaders’ meeting to discuss the matter.
Borisov said his country, another EU member that shares a border with Turkey, was not experiencing any problems at their border.
"There is zero migration at our border," he said.
Borisov also said a new migrant wave would threaten stability in the region as Europe is struggling to deal with the new coronavirus, which has killed around 3,000 people globally.
Turkey announced on Friday that it will no longer halt migrant crossings to Europe, after 34 soldiers were killed in an attack by Bashar Assad regime forces in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province.
Turkey has intercepted 1.2 million irregular migrants and over 27,000 human traffickers over the past five years, according to data by the Directorate General of Migration Management.
Turkish officials have criticized European countries for ignoring calls to take action to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Idlib.
More than a million Syrians have moved toward the Turkish border due to Assad regime attacks which indiscriminately target civilians, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure.
