Greece Accuses Turkey of Helping Smuggle Migrants

Syrian refugees arrive in Greece during migration disputes between the neighborhood countries and NATO allies Greece and Turkey. (Pixabay)

Greek Coast Guards reported numerous incidents of the Turkish Coast Guard and Navy accompanying migrant boats to the border of Europe between the night of April 1 and the morning of April 2. Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi called this an attempt to “provoke an escalation with Greece.”

In one incident, which the Greek Coast Guard relayed, a boat carrying migrants tried to enter Greek waters accompanied by a Turkish coast guard vessel. In another instance, “two Turkish vessels tried to push a dingy full of migrants into Greek waters.” In a third instance, a Turkish Coast Guard vessel harassed a Greek patrol boat on Lesbos, a Greek island off the coast of Turkey. 

In a recorded statement, Mitarachi called on Turkey to “stand down” and stop this “unwarranted provocation.” He stated that it was “beyond doubt” that the migrants came from Turkish shores.

In a public statement on Twitter, Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Catakli strongly disavowed the claim, accusing Mitarachi of “distorting the truth and telling lies.” Instead, he asserted that Greece was responsible for pushing back boats with 231 migrants on April 1, and Turkish forces rescued them. Catakli wrote, “That’s a crime against humanity to slander the Turkish Coast Guard saving people you left to death.” 

The Turkish Coast Guard and several human rights organizations and aid groups have reprimanded Greece’s use of alleged “pushbacks”: the illegal deportation of migrants who have reached Greek territory back to Turkey without allowing them the chance to apply for asylum.

The migration crisis of 2015 has increased tensions between the two neighbors and NATO allies, who have also been embroiled in a feud over energy resources in the Mediterranean since 2016. In 2015, nearly a million asylum seekers, predominantly Syrians, Iraqis, and Afghans, crossed from Turkey into Greece. In order to stem this flow, in 2016, the European Union negotiated the EU-Turkey Joint Statement with Ankara, causing the number of migrants crossing the two countries to fall dramatically. 

However, not all issues have been resolved. In February 2020, thousands of asylum seekers in Turkey amassed in attempts to storm the Greek land border in order to acquire European Union citizenship after Turkey declared it would “open its gates” following its dissatisfaction with the EU’s concessions during the influx of refugees. In a response to these new reports from the Greek Coast Guard, Matarachi called upon Turkey to “live up” to these “commitments under the deal” that seem to be disregarded in Turkish policy.