
An estimated 75,000 migrants have crossed from Turkey into the EU three days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the border ‘open’.

Greek police fired tear gas and erected barbed wire along their frontier in a desperate attempt to prevent chaos and what authorities termed ‘illegal’ entry into their country.

Bulgaria deployed its army to patrol the country’s 118-mile line with Ankara.

And the EU’s border agency, Frontex, moved onto a ‘high alert’ footing, stationing corps along the 27-nation bloc’s land border with Turkey and in the Greek islands.

But the efforts proved futile as migrants waded across the Maritsa river into Greece and arrived by boat on the Greek islands of Samos, Lesbos and Chios. It is unclear whether migrants have also entered Bulgaria.

Bureaucrats in Brussels said tonight they will hold an ‘emergency meeting’ in the coming days as fears played out across the continent that scenes from the 2015 migrant crisis, where thousands of refugees streamed across borders to reach Germany, France and Britain, could be repeated.

Turkey, which has held back 4million refugees following a £2.3-billion deal with the EU four years ago, opened the floodgates on Friday, a day after 34 Turkish troops were killed in a Syrian regime airstrike in Idlib.

Ankara ramped up tensions with the Assad regime tonight as it bombed airports outside Aleppo, deep inside Syrian-government held territory, and shot down two of President Bashar al-Assad’s fighter jets. Tensions were also heightened with Moscow, which has backed the regime, as three Russian journalists were detained in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city.

It is thought Erdogan has told migrants the borders are open to force his European NATO allies and the EU to back Turkey’s offensives in Syria and in response to alleged delays in paying the migrant package agreed in 2016.

Migrants pictured gathered on the buffer zone on the Greece-Turkey border this morning. Erdogan said he had 'opened the doors' following the killing of 34 Turkish troops in Northern Syria by the Russian-backed regime

A group of migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine arrive in a dinghy at Mytilene in Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey

Migrants pictured in a makeshift tent as the wait in the buffer zone between Greek Kastanies and Turkish Pazarkule today

Rows of migrants pictured trudging through fields asthey walk to reach Pazarakule at the Turkish border with Greece

Migrants detained by Greek police in Neo Cheimonio, four miles past the Greek border, this morning

Turkish minister of the interior Suleyman Soylu tweeted that the number of migrants crossing into the EU had reached 76,358 this morning.

However, Greek authorities disputed the figures and said they had successfully repelled almost 10,000 attempts to enter the country.

Refugees were pictured attempting to swim across the Maritsa river to reach Greece this morning. Six migrants were also photographed four miles inside the Balkan nation state after they had been arrested by police.

Reporters from Reuters news agency said they watched at least 30 people swim across the Maritsa river. On the road they met a large group of people, including an Afghan mother carrying a five-day-old baby, who said they had also waded into Greece.

A text message sent to all phones on the Greek border warned that the country has increased security to maximum and ordered people not to attempt to enter.

At least 700 people reached the Greek islands on seven boats last night, Reuters reported, as residents were seen stopping migrant boats landing on Lesbos and shouting ‘go back to Turkey!’

The Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was elected in July, chaired a meeting with his national security council this evening.

Greece has accused Turkey of inflaming the migrant crisis, after it told refugees in the country it would open the border to the EU and allegedly encouraged them to leave.

Its deputy defence minister Alkiviadis Stefanis accused Turkey of ‘not only stopping are they not stopping (the refugees), but they are helping them’.

Bulgarian defence minister Krasimir Karakachanov said there had been no crossings into his country, but that there had been tensions along the border.

Migrants crossing from Pazarkule, on the border with Greece, have clashed with riot police. Tear gas was fired into crowds including Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Moroccans

Greek security forces' intervention in irregular migrants at the border between Turkey and Greece today

A drone photo taken from Edirne, Turkey shows smokes rising from gas canisters launched by Greek security forces following their intervention in irregular migrants at the border between Turkey and Greece

A migrant is pictured attempting to help other migrants cross the Meric (Evros) River to reach Greece and the EU in a rubber dinghy boat

Migrants are seen attempting to cross the Meric river to walk towards Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing. They appear to be using sticks to help their balance as they walk on the rocks

Migrants are seen climbing aboard a dinghy boat to enter Greece. As many as seven migrants are pictured in the boat, with many more watching from the river bank

Migrants are seen using a barge-like canal boat to cross the Meric (Evros) river stretch and enter Greece. They are seen wearing thick coats to protect themselves from Europe's winter weather

Migrants brandish their fists as they come up against barbed wire at the Turkey-Greece border today

Migrants shout and appear to be preparing to throw objects at Turkey's northwest border post with Greece today

Greece has closed its border and blocked off access with barricades and piles of barbed wire (pictured today)

Migrants run back towards the Turkish border as Greek police shoot tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds today

Migrants pictured on the border between Turkey and Greece today after Erdogan said he had opened Turkey's doors

Migrants pictured carrying their children as they walk on railways toward Meritsa river, near Edirne, to take a boat to attempt to enter Greece this morning

Migrants pictured walking towards the Pazarkule border with Greece this morning

Migrants, including women and children, pictured carrying their possessions as they walk to the Pazarkule border today

Migrants stumble through a frozen field this morning as they head towards the Pazarkule Turkish border post with Greece

A migrant carries bags as he walks towards the Meritsa river, Turkey, in an attempt to enter into Greece

A woman holds her toddler after making the dangerous crossing to the Greek island of Lesbos early this morning

Women and children pictured on the beach near Skala Sykamineas, Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean last night

Migrants reportedly pelted riot police with stones and tried to cut through barbed wire on the border with Greece last night.

The angry clashes came as thousands camped out at the border crossing waiting for Greece to re-open its border.

The EU’s commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has said the bloc was watching the crisis unfold ‘with concern’.

‘Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support,’ she said on Twitter. ‘We stand ready to provide additional support including through Frontex on the land border.’

Announcing his decision to open Turkey’s borders on Saturday, Erdogan said: ‘What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors. We will not close those doors… why? Because the European Union should keep its promises.’

Turkey has reacted with ferocious force since the Syrian regime killed dozens of its soldiers in an airstrike in Idlib on Thursday.

At least 100 tanks, eight helicopters, 56 armoured vehicles and six air defence systems have been destroyed so far in Ankara’s fourth military operation in Syria dubbed ‘Spring Shield’, said defence minister Hulusi Akar.

More than 1,000 Syrian troops have also been neutralised, Turkey said, a term which means they have either been killed or detained.

It was also claimed that bombers had rendered Nayrab military airport unusable this afternoon, and attacked the Kuweires airport, east of Nayrab.

In response the Assad regime said it had downed three Turkish drones that had been targeting its positions. It also issued a warning threatening to shoot down any aircraft in Syria’s northwestern airspace.

A migrant pictured swimming back to Turkey after attempting to cross the Maritsa river this morning

Migrants helping each other out of the river after failing to reach the Greek border

An estimated 30,000 migrants gathered at checkpoints after Turkey's president claimed to have 'opened the doors' to allow as many as 4 million asylum seekers to leave the country

Migrants throw objects during clashes with Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey

Refugees and migrants gather at Pazarkule border as they attempt to enter Greece

The escalating tensions in the region and emerging second migrant crisis forced the EU’s hand last night as its representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said he had called an emergency meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.

He said that fighting around the last rebel enclave in Syria represented a ‘serious threat to international peace and security’ and that the EU had to ‘redouble efforts to address this terrible human crisis with all the means at its disposal’.

The meeting was also called at the request of the Greek government.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) members distribute food to migrants and refugees that gathered at the Turkish-Greek border, near Edirne, Turkey

A drone photo shows migrants moving towards, and congregating around, the Turkish side of the Turkey-Greece border at Pazarkule, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A migrants stands during clashes with Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (rear C) makes a speech as he holds a meeting with his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's Istanbul deputies at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Turkey yesterday

Greek police officers are pictured from Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies during clashes with migrants, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A locator map shows the crossing governate Edirne, which houses most of the borders into Greece and Bulgaria, and Lesbos, where many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa land on dinghys

Tear gas floats in the air during clashes between migrants and Greek police, at the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A map shows the border points from Turkey into Greece and Bulgaria, and from Syria into Turkey

Migrants can be seen on their way towards the Turkish-Greek border in Edime, Turkey yesterday

Syrian migrants can be seen being rescued after being stranded on an islet after they tried reaching the Greek side of the Evros River in Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A woman reacts as a dinghy transporting 27 refugees and migrants originating from Gambia and the Republic of Congo lands in Lesbos island after they were rescued by a war ship during their sea crossing between Turkey and Greece yesterday

Migrants wait as Greek anti riot police officers patrol on the buffer zone Turkey-Greece border, at Pazarkule, in Edirne district yesterday

Migrants can be seen after they were rescued when stranded on an islet while trying to paddle to the Greek side of the Evros river, in Turkey yesterday

A man takes coover behind an umbrella as he throws a mattress in a fire during clashes with Greek police in the buffer zone at Turkey-Greece border, at Pazarkule, in Edirne district yesterday

Migrants, who are trying to cross into Europe through Turkey, are pictured reaching for food aid near the Pazarkule Border in Karaagac neighbourhood of Edirne, Turkey yesterday

A Greek policeman collects tear gas canisters reportedly thrown from the Turkish side of the border during riots beween migrants and Greek police at the closed Kastanies border crossing, on the borderline between Greece and Turkey, near the Evros River yesterday

Refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne, Turkey yesterday while Greek border officials look on from the Greek side

Greek Police guard Kastanies border gate, Evros region, as a migrant stands in front of a fence between Greece and Pazarkule border gate, Edirne, Turkey yesterday

Greek riot policemen guard behind fences as refugees wait for attempting to pass the closed-off Turkish-Greek border and try to enter Europe, Edirne yesterday

Irregular migrants, who want to proceed to Europe, wait at the Turkish side and the buffer zone between the Greek Kastanies and Turkish Pazarkule border gates today in Turkey