Greek minister hails drop in illegal migration ahead of Erdogan visit

Dimitris Kairidis, the Greek minister for migration, said late Tuesday that the number of migrants arriving on Greece’s islands illegally had dropped by about 60% over the past two months thanks in large part to better coordination with Turkey’s coast guard.

“There was a time when the Turkish authorities did not react and let the boats through. Now the cooperation is much better,” Kairidis told state television.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will fly to Greece on Thursday on a visit designed to set the historically uneasy neighbors on a more constructive path.

Ten members of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ Cabinet will attend the bilateral meetings, most of them tasked to sign declarations and agreements of cooperation with their traveling Turkish counterparts.

Top of that list is a migration accord, establishing lines of communication between the coast guard agencies of the two countries, which operate in waters between the Turkish mainland and nearby Greek islands on favored routes for illegal migration into the EU.

The issue remains a political priority in Europe as it heads toward EU-wide elections in June without major asylum reforms finalized. Turkey wants to relax travel restrictions for its citizens in Europe, including for holidays to Greek islands, and Athens has promised to help.

“This is a working visit by [Erdogan] and I hope that over time, they will lose their extraordinary character and just become an ordinary exchange between two leaders,” Kairidis said. [AP]