Ninety-two refugees were found naked after being forced to cross the Evros River, which separates Turkey from Greece, according to Athens, “an inhuman image”, the Greek civil defense minister responded on Sunday.
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Paulina Pakula, a spokeswoman for Frontex, the European border watchdog, confirmed to AFP that “92 migrants were rescued on Friday” with the help of Greek authorities.
“(Frontex) agents reported that the migrants were seen naked and some of them had visible injuries,” he added, speaking from the organization’s headquarters in Warsaw, adding that Turkey had forced them to undress before deporting them to Athens. Greek side of the border.
The Greek Minister of Civil Defense, Takis Theodorikakos, accused Ankara of “instrumentalizing illegal immigration” but had nothing to do with Turkey’s degrading treatment of these refugees.
In a series of particularly scathing Twitter messages in Turkish, Greek and English, the Turkish president blamed his Greek neighbors for what he accused of “inhumane” behavior.
“We call on Greece to immediately abandon its inhumane attitude towards refugees, to put an end to the false and baseless accusations against Turkey,” writes Turkish Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.
“Greece has once again shown to the world that it does not even respect the dignity of oppressed people with these ridiculous actions, stripping refugees of their personal belongings and publishing photographs of deportees,” he added.
Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Gadagli had already called on Athens to stop “manipulation and dishonesty”.
Most of the people involved, Syrians and Afghans, “told Frontex agents that three Turkish military vehicles transferred them to Evros”, assured Takis Theodorikakos in an interview with Skai private television chain.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) took to Twitter on Sunday to condemn “such cruel and despicable behavior” and call for “a full investigation into this incident”.
Greek Migration Minister Notis Midarachi called the incident a “disgrace to civilization” on Saturday.
Greece continues to be singled out by NGOs and various press investigations for its illegal and violent attacks on sea and land borders with Turkey.
But it has always denied this practice as contrary to international law.
On the stage of the United Nations in late September, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Greece for turning the Aegean Sea into a “graveyard” with its “oppressive policy”.
Mr Attun reiterated on Sunday: “The Greek authorities must be the first to take responsibility for the children who drowned in the Aegean Sea, who they robbed, beat with Merizil belts (Turkish name for Evros, editor’s note) and left. Freeze to death together with Frontex”, he wrote.
Responding to Sunday’s incident, the NGO Mare Liberum estimated that “in the Evros region, crimes against human rights are being systematically committed by Turkey and Greece on a daily basis.”
“When these crimes are discussed publicly by members of the government, it only serves to fuel the conflict between these two countries,” he continued.
