In a new round of accusations against each other, Greece and Turkey accused each other of taking provocative measures by exploiting the migrant issue.
According to Reuters, Greece accused Turkey on Friday of trying to provoke the country by sending boats carrying migrants to Greek waters.
-Advertisement-
Greece and Turkey differ on a wide range of issues, including the energy resources in the Mediterranean, and tensions escalated last year as thousands of refugees in Turkey attempted to invade Greece’s land borders.
“There is no doubt that these immigrants left the shores of Turkey and were not in danger, given that Turkey supports them. We call on Turkey to stop this unreasonable provocation,” Greek Immigration Minister Notis Mitarashi said in a statement.
Mitarashi called on Turkey to fulfill its obligations under the agreement with the European Union.
The Greek coast guard alleges that a boat carrying migrants tried to enter Greek waters on Friday with a Turkish coast guard vessel.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of the incident.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense has not responded in this regard.
Turkey accuses Greece of harassing and provoking its ships in the eastern Mediterranean.
At the start of the European migration crisis in 2015, nearly a million refugees, most of them Syrians, sailed from Turkey to Greece.
A year later, the European Union agreed with Ankara to stop the flow, and the number of immigrants decreased dramatically.
-Advertisement-
European Union foreign ministers have repeatedly criticized Turkey’s decision to open its borders to asylum seekers in Europe, saying in a statement that Ankara’s decision to open its borders with Greece is in violation of the 2016 migrant agreement with the European Union.
In a meeting in Zagreb, European Union foreign ministers said in a statement that Ankara’s decision was unacceptable and condemned its use of political pressure.
The European foreign ministers also expressed their deep concern about the situation on the Greek-Turkish border and refused to use asylum seekers as a tool for political purposes.
After the European Union failed to support Turkey’s invasion of Idlib in Syria, the Ankara government implemented its threat to open its borders to displaced refugees in Europe.
-Advertisement-
