Greece and Turkey trade blame after 92 naked migrants rescued at border

THE GUARDIAN|ISTANBUL: The discovery of 92 naked migrants on the border of Greece and Turkey over the weekend has prompted accusations of blame between the two countries and condemnation from the United Nations.

Greek police rescued the men who were discovered naked, some with injuries, close to the northern border with Turkey, police said on Saturday.

It was not clear how the men lost their clothes.

The migrants were first discovered close to the Evros river that marks the border between Greece and Turkey on Friday, Greek police said in a statement.

An investigation by Greek police and officials from Frontex, the European Union’s border agency, found evidence that the migrants crossed the river into Greek territory in rubber dinghies from Turkey, police said.

The migrants reportedly told police and officers of Frontex that they had been forced by Turkish authorities to board three vehicles that took them to the border. The migrants testified that they had been forced to strip naked before boarding. The Guardian was not able to independently verify this.

“Turkey’s provocative behaviour exceeded all limits,” Greece’s ministry of asylum and migration said on Saturday.

Greece’s migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, on Saturday posted a confronting photo to his Twitter account, purportedly showing more than 20 naked men crouching in the open. Commenting, in Greek and English he tweeted: “Turkey’s behaviour towards 92 migrants whom we rescued at the borders today is a shame for civilisation. We expect Ankara to investigate the incident and protect at last, its borders with the EU.”

Fahrettin Altun, the head of Turkey’s communications directorate and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief spokesperson, described the allegations as “groundless and unfounded” in a series of tweets posted late on Sunday.

“The Greek machine of fake news is back at work,” he wrote.

Referring to Mitarachi’s account of the border rescue, Altun said the account was “false content” with the intention of “putting our country under suspicion”.

“Greece once again showed the whole world that it does not even respect the dignity of these oppressed people, by publishing the photographs of the refugees it has deported, extorting their personal belongings,” he added.

The United Nations also responded by issuing a statement on Sunday, saying it was “deeply distressed” by the discovery of almost 100 naked men at the border between Greece and Turkey.

“We condemn such cruel and degrading treatment and call for a full investigation into this incident,” the UN refugee agency said.

Greece was on the frontline of a European migration crisis in 2015 and 2016, when around a million refugees fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan arrived in the country