Turkish president, Croatian premier talk over phone

By Elif Kucuk

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish president and Croatian prime minister on Friday talked over the phone on the recent developments about Syria’s northwestern Idlib province and the asylum seekers who want to cross to Europe.

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Croatia's Andrej Plenkovic -- also the president of the Council of the EU -- discussed the developments in Idlib, the refugee issue, as well as the regional affairs, said Turkish Communications Directorate.

Erdogan stressed that the EU has an obligation to provide the necessary protection to refugees who have reached their borders, by complying with their international obligations.

He also said that closing the borders will not eliminate the responsibility of European countries under the international law.

On Thursday, Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in Moscow to a new cease-fire in Idlib effective as of midnight Thursday.

As part of the agreement, all military activities will end in Idlib and a security corridor will be established 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) deep to the north and to the south from the M4 highway.

Joint Turkish-Russian patrols will also begin on March 15 along the M4 highway from the settlement of Trumba -- 2 km (1.2 miles) to the west of Saraqib -- to the settlement of Ain al-Havr, according to the deal.

Turkey launched Operation Spring Shield on Feb. 27 after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred last week in an Assad regime airstrike in Idlib province. Under a 2018 deal with Russia, Turkish troops were in Idlib to protect civilians from attacks by the regime and its allies.

Turkey announced last week that it would no longer try to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe.

Thousands of asylum seekers have since flocked to Turkey’s Edirne province -- which borders Greece and Bulgaria -- to make their way to Europe.

The Greek reaction to the asylum seekers has been harsh, with many battered, attacked, tear-gassed and several killed by Greek forces.

Turkey, which already hosts nearly 4 million Syrian migrants, more than any other country in the world, says it cannot absorb another refugee wave.

Ankara has repeatedly complained that Europe has failed to keep its promises under a 2016 EU-Turkey refugee deal to help migrants and stem further migrant waves.

* Writing by Havva Kara Aydin.