Turkey has accused Greece of pushing back migrants through inhuman ways as a state policy and the European Union of turning a blind eye to this blatant violation of human rights after 19 migrants froze to death after being pushed back by Greek authorities in the past weeks, Hurriyet Daily reports,
Çavuşoğlu said Greece continued this policy of pushing back the migrants and has already turned it into state policy at the expense of blatantly violating international laws and human rights. “Don’t misunderstand me. I am not making these criticisms because Turkey and Greece have disagreements. We discuss them in different bilateral mechanisms. But I make these criticisms because it is a humanitarian issue,” he said.
Along with Greece, which Turkish authorities believe is responsible for the deaths of the migrants, the EU also should feel responsible because its border security body, Frontex, is ignoring this inhuman treatment, the Turkish foreign minister said, recalling that a probe launched by the European Parliament into Frontex has failed to create a result.
“The EU is also guilty. Why? My colleague [the Finnish foreign minister] knows very well how Turkey would be grilled if it would do only 10 percent of what Greece has been doing [against migrants]. Greece, on the contrary, receives 100 percent support from the EU,” he said.