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News > Greece

Greece Closes Turkey Border to Prevent Refugees From Crossing

  • Migrants gather at the closed Kastanies border crossing, near the Evros river, in an attempt to cross into Greece, Feb. 29, 2020.

    Migrants gather at the closed Kastanies border crossing, near the Evros river, in an attempt to cross into Greece, Feb. 29, 2020. | Photo: EFE

Published 29 February 2020
Opinion

Thousands are literally trapped at the Kastanies crossing because they cannot enter Greece or return to Turkey.

Greece's government spokesman Stelios Petsas Saturday announced that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis administration has prevented some 7,000 people from entering his country across the border with Turkey.

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According to this official, the people who are on the Greco-Turkish border near Evros do not come from Idlib, a Syrian province where the presence of Al-Qaeda has fueled an armed conflict.

On Saturday morning, however, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that 18,000 people had crossed their borders as a result of the war actions that took place in Idlib.

For his part, Petsas said the Greek government "will do whatever it takes" to safeguard its territory and protect the European borders.

"We are strengthening our forces by land and sea. More police forces are being deployed in Evros and 52 ships of the Navy are currently operating on the islands," the Greek government spokesman​​​​​​​ added.​​​​​​​

According to local outlets, Greece completely closed its maritime and land borders on Friday​​​​​​​, after the Turkish government ​​​​​​​hinted that it would allow all Syrian migrants to head to Europe.

Earlier, Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), through its spokesperson Omer Celik, said the Turkish borders could remain open because “we can no longer keep the refugees,” as reported by Breitbart.

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