Greece says Turkey can and must control migrant flows to Europe
Greece’s prime minister accused Turkey on Friday of appearing to “exploit” Europe’s migrant crisis for its own ends and said Ankara can and must control migrant flows to the continent.
Greece, the route into Europe for nearly a million refugees and migrants in 2015, is dealing with a new and steep rise in people crossing the Aegean to its islands from neighboring Turkey after a relative three-year lull.
The influx has piled pressure on its massively overcrowded migrant camps and prompted the new conservative government to announce a stricter policy to curb the flows, which includes tightening its borders and deporting more people.
“I want to be absolutely clear,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a parliament session. “Turkey… must also assume its responsibility.
“It has the ability to control the flows in the Aegean. It cannot give the impression that it is exploiting this issue for its own geopolitical pursuits,” he said. [Reuters]
