Refugee issue in Aegean Sea adds to Turkey-Greece tensions

ISTANBUL－The ongoing refugee and migrant crisis in the Aegean Sea has taken a dramatic turn with an escalating humanitarian situation on the land and sea borders between Greece and Turkey, and with no immediate solution in sight.

Each day since Turkey announced 10 days ago that it would no longer stop illegal immigrants from leaving the country, boats are leaving the Turkish coast for Greek islands.

The two NATO allies have since been trading incendiary accusations of mistreatment of illegal immigrants.

While Athens accuses Ankara of "weaponizing" refugees in order to seek support for its own refugee community of 4 million people, mostly Syrians, and a new exodus at its border with Syria, Turkey, for its part, denounces the Greek guards for their "brutal" attitude.

The two countries' relations were never easy because of decadeslong unsolved sovereignty disputes in the sea separating them, and also in Cyprus. And the refugee crisis is adding further stress to existing problems, observers said.

Dozens of asylum-seekers perished in the waters of the Aegean in 2015-2016 that prompted a deal between Turkey and the EU.

Meanwhile, Turkish authorities distributed last week a video that they said showed the Greek coastguard attempting to sink a rubber boat off the coast of Turkey's Bodrum district, which is only 12 miles from the Greek island of Kos.

"The Greek coastguard performed maneuvers aimed at sinking the rubber boat en route to Greece carrying migrants," the Turkish coastguard said in a statement.

"They opened fire afterward. Later on, the migrants in the rubber boat were hit with long sticks," it added.

A child was the first to die in the current impasse on Europe's borders when a boat carrying 48 people capsized, the Greek coastguard said on Monday morning.

More than 300 illegal immigrants were rescued last week in the Aegean by the Turkish coast guard, the semi-official Anadolu news agency reported.

The small town of Ayvacik, located in Turkey's northwestern province of Canakkale, is just a few miles from the Greek island of Lesbos, and each morning illegal immigrants are brought to the beach by smugglers despite police measures, a local journalist said.

"These are mostly Afghans who are in Turkey for a while, and don't have official refugee status. Syrians are now more comfortable in Turkey because they enjoy some kind of local and international financial support and acceptance," he said.

According to recent surveys, most of the Syrian refugees are likely to stay in Turkey where they have established a new life, whereas Afghans, Iraqis and Iranians have a very precarious situation and say they want to go to Europe for a better life.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced on Twitter on Friday that more than 142,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the land and sea borders to Greece in the last 10 days. The figures, however, are vigorously disputed by Greek authorities.

"If they choose to stay, they can. If they choose to leave, they can," the Turkish presidency's communications director Fahrettin Altun said, insisting Turkey was not in violation of a 2016 deal with the EU to stop refugees from going to Europe in return for financial support.

Since December, nearly 1 million Syrians have been displaced by the Syrian government offensive on the final pocket of rebel-controlled territory in Idlib Province.

Turkey has urged Europe to help share the burden by opening its borders with Greece to refugees and asylum-seekers.

Xinhua - Agencies