Greece must immediately end its inhumane practices on land borders and at sea, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Friday after Turkish authorities found the dead bodies of 19 migrants near Turkey’s border with Greece.
“The images of migrants, whose clothes, shoes, everything was taken on their journey toward holding on to life and who lost their lives as a result of this inhumane treatment, has upset everyone,” the ministry said on Twitter.
The ministry accused Athens of failing to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adding that it believes the people of Greece watched these images with “shame” and were moved by what they saw.
“These practices must henceforth draw the attention of the EU,” the ministry said.
Turkey has blamed Greece for the deaths, accusing Greek border guards of illegally pushing the migrants back over the frontier. Greece has strongly rejected the accusation.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed on Thursday to expose Greece allegedly illegally pushing back migrants on every occasion.
Turkey’s interior minister said Wednesday that 12 migrants had died after allegedly being forced back into Turkey. He said they were found near the border, “without shoes and stripped of their clothes.” One of the migrants was found alive but later died in hospital. There was no information about the migrants’ nationalities.
A statement from the governor’s office for the border province of Edirne said seven more bodies were found on Thursday. Anadolu Agency (AA) said gendarmerie forces were searching the area with the help of drones and that medical teams were on standby. -Agencies
