ANKARA

The number of irregular migrants leaving Turkey for Europe has reached 117,677 on Monday, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter. 

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

Thousands of migrants flocked to Edirne's Pazarkule border crossing to Greece after Turkish officials announced Friday they would no longer try to stop irregular migrants from reaching Europe.

It followed an attack by Syrian regime forces on Turkish troops in the Idlib de-escalation zone, which martyred 34 soldiers last week. 

Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under the 2018 deal with Russia which prohibits acts of aggression in the region.  

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.