Around 2,000 Syrian migrants have continued waiting near the highway linking Europe to Turkey, some of them in tents they brought with them and others on blankets distributed by aid organizations.
While around 800 migrants, including children, began a hunger strike in an effort to be allowed to enter Greece, Edirne Gov. Dursun Ali Şahin issued an ultimatum to the refugees, telling them they had three days to leave the province.
“The last group of around 2,000 people insists on not leaving. We have gotten no result from our persuasion efforts. I personally talked to their leaders and he said they wanted to go to Greece so that they can reach European countries. I told them that they could be [Edirne’s] guests for two or three days but they would eventually have to leave,” told Şahin a group of journalists on Sept. 16.
“The utmost they can stay is three days, they have to leave this place the day after tomorrow [Sept. 18]. We have our own duties; this has been a great burden on us,” he said, adding that it was a problem for Syrian migrants to be in Edirne.
Şahin said they wanted to send the migrants to their hometowns or to refugee camps, adding that “it was for certain that they would not stay [in Edirne].”
“They will also not be allowed to come near the Greek or Bulgarian borders. The … border area is forbidden to migrants,” said Şahin.
As the governor vowed to make the migrants leave the province, migrants on the side of the TEM highway continued to insist on staying near the border.
- A Syrian woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that Greece would allow the migrants to cross the border, if only the Turkish police would let them.
While most of the migrants are determined to stay in Edirne, three families, a total of 20 people, have asked the gendarmerie for help to return to Istanbul, as they understood they would not be allowed to cross the border.................http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-migrants-determined-to-march-on-amid-deadline.aspx?pageID=238&nID=88552&NewsCatID=341
16/9/15
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Related:
Turkey stops migrants crossing to Greece
About 250 Syrian migrants have attempted to walk to Pazarkule border gate in the northwestern province of Edirne in the hope of reaching Germany via Greece amid intervention by security forces...
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“We will try every way to go [to Europe],” says 32-year-old Syrian man Emad Hussein Ali determinedly....
ReplyDeleteEmad is just one of around 3,000 refugees – mostly from Syria – who have gathered at Istanbul’s main bus station, a large complex on the city’s European side.
The collection of men, women and children have been waiting for the last three days at the station for officials to allow them to travel to the Turkish-Greek border, 230 kilometers [130 miles] away in Turkey’s western Edirne province.
Some carried banners reading: "Thank you, Turkey". Others read: "Let us go."
Their arrival came after some rumors on social media said that Germany would accept thousands more refugees.
However, Istanbul’s governorship released a statement claiming that those "reports are groundless".
"Convincing efforts in order to prevent them [refugees] from going to Edirne continue. As a result of these efforts, around 500 Syrians turned back," it added.
Many refugees want to try their chance of entering the EU again by arriving in Greece................http://www.aa.com.tr/en/headline/594573--refugees-at-istanbul-bus-station-determined-to-reach-eu