Over 142,000 asylum seekers leave Turkey for Europe

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) - More than 142,000 asylum seekers have left Turkey for Greece, the country's interior minister said Friday.

"As of 12.10 p.m. local time, 142,175 migrants have left the territory of Turkey from Edirne and Evros to Greece," said Suleyman Soylu in a tweet.

Last week, Turkish officials announced they would no longer try to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe.

Since then, thousands of asylum seekers have flocked to Edirne, along the borders with Greece and Bulgaria, to make their way into Europe.

The decision was made after 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred by Assad regime forces in Idlib, northwestern Syria last week.

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