European Council president due in Turkey Wednesday

BRUSSELS

The president of the European Council will pay a visit to Turkey on Wednesday, the council has announced.

During his visit, Charles Michel will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it added in a statement late Tuesday.

The visit comes amid reports of mistreatment by EU member Greece of irregular migrants less than a week after Turkey said that they would no longer try to stop the migrants from reaching Europe.

Turkey said that as a new refugee wave seems poised in Idlib, northwestern Syria, the EU still has not kept its promises of providing help to the irregular migrants.

Turkey’s move came in the wake of 34 Turkish soldiers being martyred in an Assad regime airstrike in Idlib, a de-escalation zone just across Turkey’s southern border.

Turkey already hosts nearly 4 million migrants from Syria alone, more than any other country.

Greek border security has been using tear gas and rubber bullets to prevent migrants from entering its territory.

Some migrants have moved to border villages in order to cross via the Meric River into Greece, while others are waiting in the buffer zone, hoping the border gate will be opened.

They often sleep in the forests in tents or even outdoors and try lighting fires to keep themselves warm.