Greece will build a fence on the border with Turkey for illegal immigrants

The Greek government will build a fence along the Evros River on the border of the country to isolate itself from Turkey, declared January 7 Minister for the Protection of Citizens Takis Theodorikakos. The length of the structure will be 140 km, construction of the first 35 km will begin “immediately” – 100 million euros have been allocated for this stage, he said.

“Our neighbors know very well that there is no room for continued exploitation of unfortunate people. The borders of Greece on Evros are impregnable, and there is no doubt about it, ”- leads words of Theodorikakos press service of the ministry. The decision to build the fence was made in August 2022 at a meeting of the government’s National Security Council KYSEA, and the Ministry of Citizens’ Protection was entrusted with implementing the project.

In 2022, Greek police prevented 256,000 illegal immigrants from entering the country illegally and arrested 1,300 traffickers, Theodorikakos said. According to him, illegal immigration to Greece is “initiated and used” by neighboring Turkey. Presidential elections are to be held in this country in 2023, the minister recalled. In Greece, in turn, parliamentary elections are scheduled, they are scheduled for July.

In August 2022, about 40 migrants were blocked on an island on the Evros River, a five-year-old girl died from a scorpion sting. She could not be buried, her body was kept in water for several days. The Greek authorities said they are not responsible for the incident with migrants, as the island is located in Turkey. This group of migrants was later found on Greek territory and claimed to have been forcibly sent away by the Turkish authorities, wrote “RIA News”.

Relations between the two countries have been tense since the Greek independence, with the countries periodically threatening each other. In Cyprus, an internationally recognized Greek state is in conflict with a Turkish state recognized only by Turkey. Turkey itself lays claim to the shelf of the Aegean Sea, which Greece considers its own, since the islands belonging to it are located there.

At the end of August 2022, the Greek S-300 air defense system threatened Turkish fighter jets, prompting a sharp reaction from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In December he informedthat could send Turkish Typhoon short-range ballistic missiles to the Greek capital on one condition: if Athens “does not remain calm” and does not change course to expand its weapons arsenals. Greek National Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos responded notedthat such threats are more like “provocative revisionism” than the behavior of a NATO ally.