ISTANBUL — Barbed wire and chain-link fence separate Greek security forces in riot gear from a growing number of refugees and migrants arriving at Turkey’s Pazarkule border gate after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his nation’s border guards would not stop individuals from entering Greece.

Since Friday's announcement at least 13,000 people have reached the land crossing, according to United Nations estimates, under the impression they could cross the border. Most have so far been stopped by Greek police, which requested the rapid deployment of the European Union’s border agency, Frontex, to help manage a sudden surge in attempts to enter the country.

Ali, a 24-year-old Syrian living in Turkey, was among the thousands of people at the border gate Saturday. Speaking while tending a campfire to keep his wife and six-month-old son warm, Ali said he was shocked to find the border closed when they arrived Friday evening.

“We were told the border was open,” Ali told Al-Monitor, sharing only his first name. “What are we supposed to do now? We did not bring anything. No food, no money, no place to sleep.”