FOR THE MARTYRS

Nearly 100 Migrants Found Near The Greece-Turkey Border In ‘Distressing’ Incident, Countries Trade Blame, Stoking Tensions

Nearly 100 Migrants Found Near The Greece-Turkey Border In ‘Distressing’ Incident, Countries Trade Blame, Stoking Tensions

Nearly 100 Migrants Found Near The Greece-Turkey Border In ‘Distressing’ Incident, Countries Trade Blame, Stoking Tensions

Arrested refugees immigrants in Fylakio detention center Thrace Evros Greece restored. (Photo Credit: Ggia., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Unedited.)
Arrested refugees immigrants in Fylakio detention center Thrace Evros Greece restored. (Photo Credit: Ggia., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Unedited.)

The discovery of 92 naked male migrants near the border of Greece and Turkey has led to angry disputes between the two neighboring countries.

Greek police said Saturday that officers found the naked migrants Friday near the border of Turkey and Greece, “some with bodily injuries.” The migrants mostly came from Afghanistan and Syria, according to The Associated Press. It’s not clear how or why they lost their clothing. The United Nations called for a full investigation into the distressing incident, according to the BBC.

Greece and Turkey have blamed each other for the alleged mistreatment of the migrants, trading heated remarks on social media.

Greek migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, posted a photo on Twitter allegedly showing the migrants. He then accused Turkey of the abuse, calling the incident a “shame for civilization” and called for Turkey to investigate. However, the image itself or the circumstances in which it was taken have not been verified.

Turkey’s interior minister, İsmail Çatakli, responded directly to Mitarachi’s tweet and rejected the accusation that Turkey was responsible.

The Turkish government’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, called the accusations a product of the “Greek fake news machine.”

These exchanges come as tensions between the two countries are already running high. Both countries have disputed over multiple issues such as borders and gas drilling in the Mediterranean. Both have accused each other of human rights abuses, pushing migrants into each other’s countries, as well as violating airspace and militarizing islands in the Aegean Sea.

Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan even indicated in a speech last month that Turkey may “come down suddenly one night.”

Enes Kanter Freedom, an NBA player and human rights activist who was born in Turkey, visited Greece to promote peace between the two countries. He appeared on television wearing a shirt with the flags of Turkey and Greece and read “We are family.”

“I want people to understand, Greece is not the enemy. We are family like it says on my t-shirt,” he said. “And unfortunately right now, because of Erdogan’s hate speeches, whenever Erdogan holds a rally, he attacks Greek people. What breaks my heart is so many young generations in Turkey, so many kids in Turkey, growing up anti-Greek and anti-Greece.”

“I want people to understand — I want Greek people to understand — that Erdogan does not represent Turkish people.”

Freedom also visited with Archbishop Hieronymos of the Greek Orthodox Church.

“We discussed our hopes to unite Greeks and Turks as one, for we are family,” Freedom tweeted. “Let’s move forward together, striving for peace, love & bringing more good to this world.”

Due to his activism and past criticism of Erdogan, Freedom had his passport revoked in 2017. Since then, he hasn’t been allowed to travel home or visit his family and has had at least 10 international arrest warrants put out for him.

 

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Image: Arrested refugees immigrants in Fylakio detention center Thrace Evros Greece restored. (Photo Credit: Ggia., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Unedited.)

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