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Syrian refugees given ultimatum to leave Turkey's border area

Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

A Turkish governor Wednesday issued an ultimatum to thousands of Syrian refugees to leave from border province, who are determined to cross by land into Greece en route to Germany.

Edirne Gov. Dursun Ali Sahin issued an ultimatum to the refugees, telling them they had three days to leave the province.

"The utmost they can stay is three days, they have to leave this place the day after Sept. 18. We have our own duties; this has been a great burden on us," he said.

The border governor said they wanted to send the migrants to their hometowns or to refugee camps, adding that "it was for certain that they would not stay in Edirne."

"They will also not be allowed to come near the Greek or Bulgarian borders. The border area is forbidden to migrants," he added.

Around 2,000 Syrian migrants have continued waiting near the highway linking Europe to Turkey and some of them are in tents and others are on blankets distributed by aid organizations.

According to Dogan News Agency, about 800 migrants, including children, began a hunger strike in an effort to be allowed to enter Greece,

As the governor issued the ultimatum to Syrian refugees to leave the province, thousands migrants continued to march toward the Turkey-Greece border on the side of the TEM highway.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Syrian migrants continue to flock to Istanbul's largest bus station to board a bus to Edirne in an attempt to cross into Europe.

Migrants began arriving at the station in Istanbul's Esenler district on Sept. 15 and have been waiting there since even though bus companies departing for Thrace refuse to transport them.

One of the refugees named Ahmed told Xinhua that they actually bought bus tickets but later their tickets were cancelled. "We all came here to go to Edirne. Yesterday they gave us tickets but today we don't know why, but we can not go."

Refugees told Xinhua that they only want to go to Europe because life conditions in Turkey are very difficult for them. A Syrian father who carries his baby said: "life is too hard here. Everything is so expensive. I want to go to Germany for my child."

A 14-year old Leyla said: "We love Turkey and Erdogan but our aim is to reach Greece. We have relatives in Europe." Some Syrian women told Xinhua that they want to start a new life in Europe because their children can not continue education in Turkey. Endit