76,300 illegal migrants exited Turkey towards Europe

More than 76,300 illegal migrants exited Turkey towards Europe as of Sunday morning, Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claimed.

"The number of migrants leaving our country via Edirne is 76,358 as of 09.55 a.m. [0655 GMT]," Soylu posted on Twitter.

The migrants are leaving Turkey through northwestern Edirne province bordering with Greece and Bulgaria.

Thousands of migrants flocked to Pazarkule, a border gate with Greece, after Turkish officials on Friday announced that they would no longer try to stop irregular migrants from reaching Europe.

Turkey already hosts some 3.7 million migrants from Syria alone, more than any other country in the world.

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

The European Union must not bow to threats from Turkey to push millions of Syrian refugees into EU countries, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday, adding that Ankara should stop its military operations in northern Syria at once.

"[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, having lost all checks and balances, is trying to blackmail Europe through opening the gates from Turkey towards Europe to Syrian refugees, while his mercenaries in Syria have blocked every safe conduit opened by the Syrian government for the people of Idlib to cross into safe havens within Syria," Syrian Ambassador to China, Imad Moustapha stated.