Turkey closes border with Greece, Bulgaria over virus

The Turkish government’s decision on Wednesday to close its borders with Greece and Bulgaria as a measure against the coronavirus pandemic is seen to mark the end of the three-week migrant crisis in the Evros region that pitted it against Athens and Brussels.

The decision to close the land border at the crossings at Ipsala, Uzunkopru and Pazarkule from midnight Wednesrday was announced by the Turkish Interior Ministry. 

The closing of the border by Ankara is also expected to mean a halt in the efforts of migrants to cross the border into Greece with the assistance of Turkish authorities. 

Another effort to breach the border occurred early Wednesday morning just before dawn when a group of about 350 men tried to break through the defenses set up by Greek forces at Kastanies.

There were also minor scuffles at Kastanies between migrants and Greek forces Wednesday afternoon. 

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s video conference between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leaders of France, Germany and the UK did not lead to any drastic decisions on the migrants issue with the focus being on the coronavirus pandemic.