Turkey will not stop refugees 'who want to go to Europe'

Hundreds of Europe-bound migrants have begun heading to northwest Turkey towards Bulgaria and Greece. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party said the refugees began their journey after a Syrian attack in Idlib.
Breaking News English

Turkey is "no longer able to hold refugees" following a Syrian attack that killed 33 troops in Idlib, Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP party, said on Friday.

The announcement comes as some 300 migrants walk through northwest Turkey towards its borders with Greece and Bulgaria on Friday, according to DHA news agency.

"As a result of the attack, the (refugees) in Turkey are heading towards Europe, and those on Syrian territory are heading towards Turkey," Celik told CNN Türk shortly after midnight Friday morning. "Our refugee policy is the same as before, but we are now in a situation where we can no longer hold them."

Demiroren news agency said the group of migrants, including women and children, embarked on their journey from Turkey's Edirne province toward borders with Bulgaria and Greece — two European Union nations — at around midnight. Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Moroccans were among those in the group.

Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrians under a 2016 agreement with the EU to halt the flow of migrants in to Europe. The agreement resulted from European migrant crisis of 2015 in which millions of refugees flooded into Europe, nearly half of which from Syria.

Since then, Erdogan has threatened repeatedly to "open the gates" amid several disputes with Europe.

dv (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Comments

Prince Charles, 71, tests positive for coronavirus: Palace

Britain’s Prince Charles, the eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II, is showing mild symptoms of the new coronavirus but “otherwise remains in good health”, his office said on Wednesday. The 71-year-old and his wife Camilla — who does not have COVID-19 — are currently self-isolating in Scotland, Clarence House said. “The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus,” it said in a statement, using his official title. “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual. “The Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) has also been tested but does not have the virus. “In accordance with government and medical advice, the prince and the duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland.” The couple were tested by the state-run National Health Service (NHS) in Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland, it said. “It is not possible to ascertain from whom the prince caught the virus owing to...

‘Today we have seen the dawn’: China reports zero new local coronavirus cases for first time since outbreak began

Chinese officials say they have “seen the dawn” of an end to the coronavirus epidemic, after the country reported zero new cases of local infection for the first time since the outbreak began. Figures for Wednesday showed there were no new cases at all in Wuhan or the wider Hubei province, where the virus now known as Covid-19 is believed to have first transmitted among humans. Authorities warned the risk was still not over, though, as 34 cases - all imported from abroad - were reported in other provinces. They included 21 in Beijing and nine in the southern manufacturing hub of Guangdong. There were also eight new deaths on Wednesday, according to the National Health Commission. bringing the country to a total of 80,928 cases and 3,245 deaths. Nonetheless, the lack of new local transmissions in Hubei was hailed as a major landmark in the global fight to contain the disease. “Today we have seen the dawn after so many days o...

Kenyan athlete forced into self-isolation in Nakuru

An Eldoret-based Kenyan athlete has been put in isolation at the Kenya Industrial Training Institute (KITI) in Nakuru, after he was seized by security officers while aboard an Eldoret-bound matatu following a trip from abroad. Samson Rutto, 31, was intercepted by police at Kibunjia area along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Tuesday evening and taken to the institution, where he spent the night. He arrived in the country on Sunday. According to documents seen by Nation Sport , the athlete travelled to Kenya from France through India and Ethiopia, before arriving in the country on March 22. In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Rutto complained that he had been forced into a very dirty and poorly ventilated room by the Nakuru County health officials and police. "I was forced to spend my night in a filthy room, that is poorly ventilated. I wonder why I am being treated like a dog in my homeland. I wish l stayed in France, this could not have happened to me,"...

Hairdresser creates a barrier between her clients by cutting arm and eye holes in an UMBRELLA, as she attempts to continue working during the coronavirus pandemic

A hairdresser who has continued working during the coronavirus pandemic has gone viral for wearing an umbrella to separate herself from clients. The Dutch stylist who works at Bella Rosa salon in Oss, north of Eindhoven, Holland, created a makeshift shield from an umbrella in a bizarre attempt to help stop the spread of COVID-19. She cut two holes for her arms to go through and cut a client's hair using disposable gloves. The hairdresser completed her homemade protective wear by adding holes to the umbrella to see out of. Countries across Europe have shot down hair and beauty salons, and there is no evidence that the The clip has gone viral across social media, racking up over 82,000 shares on Facebook alone. In one clip, she included the caption: 'This is not going well' Laughing can be heard in the background. She then had to cut a third hole to thread another customer's eyebrows. The woman carried out the treatment b...

ONTIMENEWSKENYA

Search This Blog