Turkish minister attacks Greece, EU with Auschwitz comparison
Turkey’s deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran has criticized Greece and the European Union over the situation at the Evros border, going as far as to compare the alleged treatment of migrants seeking to cross the frontier with conditions prevailing at Nazi death camps at Auschwitz.
“These photos are not from Auschwitz, but from Pazarkule (the Turkish side of the border crossing),” Kiran said in a tweet on Saturday that contained alleged pictures of men in their underpants on Turkish soil after being sent back by Greek security forces.
“Greece takes the money, phones, identity cards and clothes of innocent migrants crossing the border and sends them back,” Kiran said.
“Europe and the world are playing the ostrich,” he said while tagging Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and the official accounts of the European Commission and the EU Council.
Greece denies the accusations, describing them as Turkish propaganda.
Meanwhile, Greek authorities said they had prevented 1,646 people from entering Greece between Sunday morning and Monday morning.
Two men, one Egyptian and one Moroccan, were arrested, authorities said.
Tens of thousands of migrants have been trying to cross into Greece since Turkey said on February 28 it would no longer try to keep them on its territory – according to the rules of a 2016 deal between Ankara and the European Union.
On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Greece to “open your gates” to refugees.
These photos are not from Auschwitz, but from Pazarkule..
Greece takes the money, phones, identity cards and clothes of innocent migrants crossing the border and sends them back.
Europe and the world are playing the ostrich.@NikosDendias@EU_Commission@EUCouncil pic.twitter.com/OZrb1eYF5H
— Yavuz Selim KIRAN (@yavuzselimkiran) March 7, 2020
