Turkey- Turkish province intercepts over 700 EU bound refugees

9/11/2015 5:05:28 AM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) More than 700 Europe-bound refugees have been intercepted in Turkey's northwestern province of Edirne the region's governor said on Thursday.

"Normally 100-150 refugees are intercepted daily in Edirne. But yesterday [Wednesday] we intercepted a record-breaking number of 712 people who forced their way to cross the border after hearing some European states were agreeing to take in refugees" Dursun Ali Sahin told reporters.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged EU member states on Wednesday to take "bold determined" action to tackle the refugee crisis enveloping the continent” calling on them to agree to relocate 160000 refugees when ministers meet on Sept. 14.

"I have heard that this wave of migration will keep getting larger. If we let things get out of hand the number could be high as 400000. That's why as of yesterday we started round-the-clock checks at the border" Sahin said referring to the Kapikule Border Gate the crossing point between Turkey and Bulgaria – an EU member.

The refugees were sent to Istanbul. Turkish security forces were working to prevent the entry of refugees into Europe not just in Edirne but in many other border regions Sahin said.

According to the UN there are 1.9 million refugees from Syria registered in Turkey; the country has spent $5.6 billion supporting refugees since April 2011.

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