“Despite all the trespassing by the (Syrian) regime, with coordination with Russia in Idlib, we are doing our best to prevent new massacres and waves of migration,” Erdogan said at the graduation ceremony of the National Defense University in Istanbul, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).
Erdogan’s comments came after his country’s borders with Syria were packed on Friday with people from Idlib and other parts of Syria where the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad - backed by Russia - is heavily bombing in a bid to take the area from rebel and jihadist forces.
Emboldened by recent victories over rebel forces, some with ties to Turkey, in other parts of Syria, Assad is seeking full control of the rebel-held areas, including Idlib.
Thousands of people were trapped between the war zone and the Turkish border on Friday. They gathered at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing and chanted slogans against Assad, Russia and Erdogan.
Despite Turkish forces firing shots into the air and using water cannons, some people reportedly made it into Turkey.
And some burned the portrait of Erdogan.
There are about 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. The country had an “open policy” towards the refugees in the initial years of the Syrian conflict in 2011, but slowly it changed to the point where they searched the streets to find unregistered Syrians in Istanbul and send them back to Syria. Turkey also returned the registered ones to where they first registered upon arriving in Turkey.
Turkey has also been a big supporter of the Syrian opposition, but its passive reaction to the regime’s offensive has disappointed pro-opposition Syrians.
Erdogan said in Ankara on Friday that “it would be a lie if we would suggest that developments in regards to Idlib are as desired. They are not the way we want,” claiming that the Syrian regime is forcing Syrians to flee.
“They are coming towards us and we need to be vigilant. We need to be cautious. We have taken all the necessary precautions,” he added.
The Anadolu Agency reported the gatherings at border as “protests against the regime and Russia.”
Syria has been in an eight-year civil war which has divided the country into three parts: regime-controlled areas in most of the country, a few areas controlled by the pro-Turkey opposition in the northwest and about a third of Syrian territory is under the control of Kurdish-led forces in northeast.
