Thousands of migrants are now trying to cross the border between Turkey and Greece.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered Turkish coast guards to prevent migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea, confirming a lull in the migration crisis between Turkey and the European Union.
“On the orders of the president […] migrants will not be allowed to cross the Aegean Sea because of the dangers that this entails ”, the Coast Guard reported on Twitter.
“The approach of not intervening to prevent migrants from leaving Turkey remains valid, except for departures by sea, because of the dangers”, he said.
The coast guard service also claimed to have saved 97 migrants in danger on Thursday, accusing the Greeks of having “Deflated their three boats and let them drift, half sinking”.
Ankara and Athens continually exchange accusations concerning migrants, the Turks denouncing the brutality of the Greeks against the migrants, the Greeks accusing Turkey of pushing them and even of helping them to cross to Greece.
Thousands of migrants have been trying to cross the border between Turkey and Greece since the Turkish President announced on February 29 that he is no longer respecting a March 2016 agreement with the European Union providing for migrants to remain in Turkey, in exchange of European financial aid to Ankara.
Greek authorities announced on Thursday that more than 1,700 of them had arrived on the Greek islands, adding to the 38,000 already present who are overcrowding the refugee camps in increasingly precarious conditions.
This tense situation has awakened in Europe the memory of the migration crisis of 2015.
In an attempt to break the deadlock, Erdogan spoke on the phone Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It had steered the negotiations leading to the 2016 agreement.
The EU, for its part, sent a dissuasive message to migrants on Friday: “Don’t go to the border. The border is not open ”, said European Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.
New clashes between Greek police and migrants massed on the border with Turkey for several hours on Saturday. Police used tear gas and water cannons to repel migrants who attempted to cross the gates at the Pazarkule border crossing (called Kastanies, Greek side). They threw stones at them and shouted “Open the doors”.
Under the 2016 agreement, Turkey agreed to contain the flow of migrants fleeing the war in Syria in exchange for billions of euros in aid.
But Ankara protests that this aid is insufficient to meet the cost of the four million migrants and refugees, mainly Syrians, whom it has welcomed for years.
This cost has increased further with the offensive of the Syrian regime – supported by Moscow – since December against the province of Idleb, last rebel stronghold in Syria, which caused a humanitarian catastrophe, with nearly a million displaced persons. .
The Europeans, who had offered an additional billion euros in aid that Ankara refused, see Ankara’s decision to open the floodgates as political blackmail to obtain Western support for Turkish operations in Syria.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that Brussels will strictly implement the 2016 deal and denounced the support expressed by the 27 for Greece at a ministerial meeting in Zagreb on Friday.
“It is unfortunate that the EU is acting in contradiction with its own principles by supporting Greece which violates international human rights law”, the ministry said, accusing the EU of demonstrating“hypocrisy” and politicize the migration issue.
Greece, for its part, defends itself “To use excessive force” against migrants. Athens did “Only react to provocations that took place at the border”said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on CNN.
He also accused Ankara of helping migrants get to Greece by land but also by sea.
–
