The Greek Foreign Ministry has accused Turkey of trying to turn migration into a political tool following the recent incident at the Greek-Turkish border where dozens of refugees were stranded for days until Greek police rescued them.
In a statement, the Ministry said the recent incident in the Evros region “is yet another attempt by Turkey to instrumentalise the migration-refugee issue and, possibly, to create a border issue at the same time.”
“In the face of this new attempt against our national interests, prudence and responsibility are required of all political forces in our country, rather than an attempt by part of the opposition to turn the issue into a field of partisan confrontation,” the statement continued.
On Monday, Greek police found 38 refugees, among them one pregnant woman and seven children, who had been hiding in Greek territory after crossing the river from Turkey.
The positive outcome came after the refugees said they were forced on the Evros islet by Turkish authorities on August 7, according to AlJazeera.
Greek authorities had been notified of their location and activists had made emergency calls on their behalf to police, but officials said in their statement at the time that the refugees were located at a point “outside Greek territory.”
After they were located in the Lavara area, approximately four kilometres south of the coordinates of their initially reported position, they were taken to a Reception and Identification Centre.
The incident has again put Greece in the national and international spotlight, with opposition party SYRIZA and aid groups criticising the government’s response time.
Source: Ekathimerini.
