President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday he would not stop migrants trying to cross Turkey's border into Greece despite EU pressure to do so, but he also announced a summit next week in Istanbul with European leaders to seek a solution to the crisis. 

Tens of thousands of migrants have been trying to get into Greece, a European Union member state, since Turkey said on February 28 it would no longer keep them on its territory as part of a 2016 deal with Brussels in return for EU aid for the refugees.

Explainer: Why Turkey opened its border allowing migrants into Europe

Greece has sent troops to patrol along the wire and steel fence that separates the Kastanies crossing from Turkey's border post at Pazarkule, and used tear gas and water cannon against the migrants. Greece officials said it stopped 963 illegal migrants in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Tuesday and arrested 52 from Monday to Tuesday included Syrians, Afghans and Iranians. 

Ankara called on Greece to change tack, suggesting Greece to open the gates, allowing migrants cross from Greece into other European countries, which he called is a "humane sharing" of the burden. The comments will revive memories of the 2015-16 migrant crisis, when more than one million people, mostly fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Asia, reached the EU via Turkey and Greece, boosting support for far-right parties.

Erdogan also said Greece's stance violates the migrants' human rights. It has accused Greek forces of shooting dead four migrants on the border. Turkey's migration authority said on Tuesday it had filed two applications to the European Court of Human Rights regarding one migrant it says was killed by Greek forces and a family it said was pushed back from the border. More lawsuits are being prepared on behalf of migrants whose rights have been violated. Athens strongly denies the claims. 

Summit

Erdogan said he would convene a summit in Istanbul on March 17 on the migrant issue with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and possibly British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

He said he had stressed in the Brussels talks the need to update both the 2016 migration deal between Ankara and the EU and Turkey's customs union with the bloc, and also to revive Turkey's stalled EU accession process. Under the 2016 deal between Brussels and Ankara, the EU agreed to pay Turkey six billion euros and offered other sweeteners to control the number of migrants heading to Europe via Turkey. But Erdogan said the EU has so far handed over only about half of the six billion euros initially promised to help house, feed, educate and care for the 3.6 million refugees living in Turkey. 

"The EU leaders accepted that Turkey had fulfilled its responsibilities under the March 18 (2016) agreement and that the EU had acted slowly," Erdogan said, adding that technical and political teams would now produce a road map in which Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, will conduct this process.

Turkey also wants more European support over the war in neighboring Syria, where Turkish troops face off against Russian-backed Syrian government forces. 

(With input from Reuters)