Greece on alert over migrants’ influx from Turkey

Athens, March 12 (SocialNews.XYZ) Greek border guards have continued to be on alert as hundreds of migrants and refugees were attempting to cross into the country from the northeastern land border with Turkey, amid escalating tensions.

Greek government sources said on Wednesday that almost 1,000 people were kept off from the border city of Katsanies in the last 48 hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

Since February 28, Greece has been facing an influx of refugees and migrants from across its border with Turkey, after Ankara decided to allow tens of thousands of people to reach its land border with Greece, as it could not cope with the burden of over 3.7 million refugees in its territory.

According to data by Greek authorities, 100,000 people are currently stranded in Greece.

Greek Foreign Ministry summoned Turkey's ambassador in Athens to request explanations about an incident involving a Greek Coast Guard vessel and a Turkish patrol boat, government spokesperson Stelios Petsas told a regular press briefing.

A statement by the Greek Shipping Ministry claimed that a Turkish patrol boat "deliberately collided" with a Greek Coast Guard vessel near the island of Kos, within Greek territorial waters.

"We hope logic and good neighbourly relations will prevail," the spokesperson said on recent tensions in Greece-Turkey borders.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Brussels for talks with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the issue and the latter was due to visit Athens on Thursday.

The European officials said that talks will continue to clarify the implementation of the 2016 deal between EU and Turkey aimed to stem the refugee and migrant flows.

Under the deal, EU would provide funds to Turkey to host millions of refugees in return for increased efforts to clamp down on human smuggling networks along Greece's coastline.

Source: IANS