(Kathimerini) A day after police said they found 38 migrants who had been reported stranded on an islet in the Evros River on the Greek-Turkish border, Greece on Tuesday accused Turkey of pushing the migrants into Greek territory.
During a visit to Evros on Tuesday, Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said the group of 38 migrants — 35 Syrians and three Palestinians — arrived on the Turkish side of the river before they were forcefully pushed onto the islet by the Turkish authorities.
“The Turkish authorities arrested these migrants inside Turkey, they did not give them the right to apply for international protection, as Turkey is bound to do by international law,” he said, adding that “the Turkish gendarmerie brought them to the bank of the Evros and, under the threat of violence, pressured them to come to Greece.”
