Turkey is threatening to push a new refugee crisis onto Europe after its vicious conflict in Syria hit a tipping point

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Turkey appears to be relaxing its efforts to prevent Syrian refugees from leaving for Europe via land and sea crossings with Bulgaria and Greece.

"We have decided, effectively immediately, not to stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land or sea," an anonymous Turkish official told Reuters.

Turkish news channels were filled with footage of Syrian refugees walking toward the Greek and Bulgarian borders, and buses filled with refugees in Istanbul heading toward Greece.

The potential exodus has sent the EU and NATO into a panic, with both calling upon the Russians and Turks to negotiate a settlement on the Idlib fighting. NATO held an emergency meeting on Friday.

Turkey's news comes at least 33 Turkish troops were killed Thursday night in fighting between the Russia- and Iran-backed Syrian regime and Turkish-backed rebel forces in Idlib province.

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Turkey is threatening to allow hundreds of thousands of refugees to depart its borders for Europe after a night of heavy fighting in northern Syria saw dozens of its soldiers killed in a Russian-backed offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's army.

A three-month offensive by the Syrian regime and its primary backers in Iran and Russia to retake Idlib Province, the last major rebel redoubt, has pushed about a million Syrian refugees to their country's border with Turkey to escape heavy bombardment and air strikes.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderNOW WATCH: A podiatrist explains heel spurs, the medical condition Trump said earned him a medical deferment from VietnamSee Also:An anti-Putin blogger fought off a hammer-wielding assassin in what looks like the latest in a string of bloody attacks on dissidents in EuropeTop US commander in Europe says Russia's subs are getting busier, as Trump cuts sub-hunting planes from the Pentagon budgetThis is what happens when ISIS invades your village, destroys the schools, bans music, and then leaves

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