Kastanies, Greece: The United Nations on Sunday said that at least 13,000 people were massed on Turkey’s land border with Greece after Turkey officially declared its western borders were open to migrants and refugees hoping to head into the European Union.
Turkey’s decision to open the borders with Greece came amid a military escalation in Syria’s northwest region that has led to growing direct clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces.
In Syria, the government said it was closing its airspace for any flights or drones across the country’s northwest region. It said any aircraft that penetrates Syrian airspace will be treated as hostile and shot down. It was not immediately clear whether the statement referred to friendly Russian jets in addition to Turkish aircraft.
“Any jet that violates our airspace will be treated as a hostile target that must be shot down and prevented from achieving its goals,” the Syrian military statement said.
The announcement came after two days of Turkish drone attacks in Idlib province that Syrian activists said caused heavy losses to Syrian government forces. These confrontations have added to soaring tensions between Turkey and Russia, which support opposing sides of the Syrian civil war.
Turkish Defense Minsiter Hulusi Akar, speaking from military headquarters near the Syrian border, said Turkey aimed to confront Syrian government forces rather than Russian troops.
