Turkey will “play a very important role” in dealing with the wave of Afghans fleeing their country and preventing them from reaching Europe, European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Aug. 18, Duvar English reported.

Speaking to Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE, Borrell said the EU will have to work closely with countries on the route between Afghanistan and Europe to “avoid a humanitarian crisis,” noting that Turkey will be particularly important.

“There will be a lot of Afghans trying to bypass Turkey for Europe. On this occasion, Turkey will play a very important role,” he said.

Ever since the United States announced its intention to pull out its troops from Afghanistan in September, Turkey has been receiving an influx of migrants from Afghanistan. Now that Afghanistan is under the Taliban’s control, Turkey and EU member states fear that the chaos in Afghanistan will make Afghans escape the country in an attempt to save themselves from the Taliban’s cruel power.