Turkey on Thursday accused neighbouring Greece of allowing 12 migrants to die in the winter cold after stripping them of their clothes and then push-ing them back across the border.
The charges from Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu — dismissed as “utter nonsense” by Greece — threaten to escalate simmering ten-sions between the rival members of the Nato de-fence alliance.
They also highlight Turkey’s fears that EU countries were turning a blind eye to concerns that its existing refugee camps near Syria will be over-run by desperate Afghans fleeing the Taliban fol-lowing their return to power. Soylu posted blurred images on Twitter showing partially naked bodies lying by the roadside.
“Twelve of the 22 migrants pushed back by Greek border units” froze to death after being “stripped (of) their clothes and shoes”, Soylu wrote in English. The “EU is remediless, weak and void of humane feelings”, he added.—AFP
