OREANDA-NEWS. Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan uses the topic of refugees to blackmail the EU, Turkey will continue to put pressure on Europe with the help of this topic. This was announced on Thursday by the head of the Syrian diplomatic mission in Moscow, Riyad Haddad, speaking on a Russian television channel.

According to the Syrian diplomat, the refugee problem could be solved by the joint efforts of the international community, by reducing the economic pressure on Syria and the fight against terrorism.

The border between Turkey and the EU has been closed for migrants since 2016 under the agreement of Brussels and Ankara on a visa-free regime, which, however, was never introduced. In late February, after a clash with the Syrian army, in which 36 Turkish soldiers were killed, Ankara decided not to stop the refugees from Syria who are trying to get into the EU.

Turkish authorities estimated the number of refugees crossing the border at 100 thousand. The European Union is negotiating with Turkey to resolve the situation and promises support for Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus, who are faced with an influx of refugees.