Turkey's Syrian operation in Hungary's interest: PM Orban

• Turkey launched its military offensive on October 9 to push Syrian Kurdish forces back from its border and to create a "safe zone".
• The zone has been "militarily stabilised... albeit at the cost of conflicts and battles" and will allow Syrian refugees in Turkey to "return home".
• A hundred thousand will then go to Greece from Turkey, from Greece to the Balkans, and from the Balkans to either the Hungarian or Croatian borders.

BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that Turkey's military incursion in Syria was in his country's interest, fearing an increase in the number of refugees seeking to flee to Europe.

Turkey launched its military offensive on October 9 to push Syrian Kurdish forces back from its border and to create a "safe zone", in which it intends to repatriate some of the 3.6 million refugees it is currently housing.

Orban said the zone has been "militarily stabilised... albeit at the cost of conflicts and battles" and will allow Syrian refugees in Turkey to "return home".

"If they don't go there, the Turks will open the gates toward Europe," Orban said in an interview on Hungarian public radio.

"A hundred thousand will then go to Greece from Turkey, from Greece to the Balkans, and from the Balkans to either the Hungarian or Croatian borders," the hardline anti-immigration premier said.

"The fundamental Hungarian interest is that that does not happen."

Orban said last week that Hungary would use force to stop people from illegally entering the country, a southern border of the EU.

Orban also said he had proposed to Brussels that it sends targeted financial aid to Ankara to rebuild towns in the "stabilised areas" and equip them with hospitals, schools and housing.

Orban, who has developed close links with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in recent years, drew criticism from Brussels after Budapest delayed a joint EU declaration that called upon Turkey to cease its military action.

At a meeting in Kazakhstan last week, Erdogan personally thanked Orban for his "support". Erdogan is scheduled to meet Orban in Budapest November 7.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Hungary next week.