Turkish threats to send millions of Syrian refugees to Europe's doorstep if sanctioned or condemned for its military intervention in northeast Syria are credible, European and Turkish security officials told Business Insider Friday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to unload many of the estimated 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey after European capitals responded with concern over this week's decision to send the Turkish military into Syria to push a Kurdish seperatist group off the border.
He argued his plan to open a yet undefined security zone along the border to house hundreds of thousands of refugees was necessary, even as the international community expressed grave concern that this amounts to ethnic cleansing.
In a speech before his AKP party on Thursday, Erdogan warned that any condemnation from Europe would result in his, "opening the gates and send 3.6 million refugees your way."
Erdogan's threats may seem grandiose, but they are entirely credible, officials told Business Insider.
"He can do it," one Greek Interior Ministry official told Business Insider.
"The AKP and its political patronage network have the capability to not only allow Syrians and other refugees to leave for Greece and the EU by boat but they control the main levers so they can speed up any transfer," the official, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
"They can send about 500,000 refugees immediately while making millions of euros themselves charging refugees for the trip."