NW Turkey: Asylum seekers at Europe's door for 18th day

EDIRNE, Turkey

Asylum seekers were waiting for the 18th day along the Turkey-Greece border on Monday in northwestern Turkey.

Though some asylum seekers have sought to cross into Greece over the Meric River spanning the border, others have been waiting in and around the buffer zone between the Kastanies and Pazarkule gates on the edge of Turkey's Edirne province, hoping Athens will allow their passage.

More than 10,000 asylum seekers spend their nights in tents struggling under harsh conditions as the weather gets colder.

They are now focused on the outcome of an upcoming summit on Tuesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

The summit was planned to be in Istanbul but will be held via video conference as part of measures taken to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

Late last month, Turkey announced it would no longer stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe via land, while banning boat crossings as too dangerous, accusing the EU of failing to keep promises under the 2016 migrant deal.

Ankara also warned that due to incessant attacks on civilians in Idlib, Syria, a million refugees were moving toward Turkey’s borders.

Turkey currently hosts over 3.7 million Syrians, making it the world's top refugee-hosting country.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan