Aftermath of deadly attack on Turkey troops in Syria
Migrants head to Greece after floodgates opened
Turkey says it has destroyed scores of Syrian army targets
Greece placed its borders on maximum security footing yesterday after hundreds of migrants used porous crossing points to enter the country from Turkey, with thousands behind them seeking entry after Ankara relaxed curbs on their movement.
At least 500 people had arrived by sea on three Greek islands close to the Turkish coast within a few hours yesterday morning, police said.
On the mainland further north, migrants waded across a river to the Greek side at Kastanies.
A Greek government source put the number of people gathered on the border yesterday at 3,000, while the International Organization for Migration estimated the number at 13,000.
Turkey said on Thursday it would no longer restrain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory from reaching Europe despite a deal to do so reached with the EU in 2016.
Turkey's turnabout came after an air strike killed 33 Turkish soldiers in neighbouring northwest Syria where Ankara has deployed forces to help secure its border against a new influx of refugees from the Syrian civil war.
Meanwhile, Turkey yesterday said it had destroyed air defence systems, more than 100 tanks and downed two planes belonging to the Syrian army as part of an operation it launched after the attack on its soldiers.
Tensions in northwest Syria have escalated sharply as fighting between Turkey-backed rebels and Russian-backed Syrian government forces risks bringing the two regional powers into direct confrontation.
Diplomatic efforts by Ankara and Moscow to defuse tensions have so far fallen short of achieving a ceasefire in the Idlib region of northwest Syria, the country's last major rebel stronghold after nine years of civil war.
The Syrian Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor, said 74 Syrian government troops and pro-Damascus fighters had been killed since Feb. 27.