Thousands of migrants have travelled to the Greek border with Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan allowed refugees to travel on to Europe. Greece has since shut down its border and placed barbed wire between the migrants and border guards, sparking an international crisis. There are fears the tense standoff could quickly escalate, following earlier clashes between Greek border police and the migrants.
The migrants are now stuck between the Turkish and Greek border, and are apparently not allowed to return to Turkey.
Justifying his decision on Saturday, President Erdogan said his country can no longer handle new waves of people fleeing Syria.
He said: “”What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors.
“We will not close those doors. Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises.”
JUST IN: Syria crisis: Greece and Bulgaria tighten border security
This was in reference to the 2016 deal with the European Union to stop refugee flows in exchange for billions of euros in aid.
Turkey have said the country had not received enough support in hosting millions of Syrian refugees.
The situation has escalated with Turkey providing free transportation from the city center in Istanbul to the borders with Europe.
President Erdogan warned that as many as 30,000 migrants could be sent to the border by the end of Saturday.
This followed an emergency meeting in Greece to discuss tensions on the border with Turkey.
According to photographer Nicola Zolin on site, Turkish smugglers were seen “waiting for refugees descending from the bus”.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Saturday that Hungary would strengthen the protection of the southern border in response to the crisis.
He said that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan informed him that Turkey could no longer hold back the flow of migrants.