European Union "maximum alert" .. Thousands of refugees insist on crossing despite repression by Greek police

On Sunday, thousands of migrants continue to flow from Turkey towards the Greek border, as Greece continues to forcefully confront attempts to cross, and the European Agency for the Control and Protection of External Borders raised the level of alert to the "maximum degree".

At least two thousand additional immigrants arrived today to the border region, coinciding with the announcement by Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soi-Lu via Twitter that the number of refugees who left Turkey via Edirne near the borders with Greece and Bulgaria reached 76,358 refugees.

For his part, the head of the communication department in the Turkish presidency said that his country continues to implement temporary protection for Syrians, explaining that if the refugees choose to stay, they can do so, and that if they choose to leave, they can do so as well.

On the other hand, the closure of the Katsanis crossing point continues from the Greek side of the border with Turkey for the third day in a row. On Sunday morning, Greek army vehicles passed to the area between the two countries, and sporadic shooting of rubber bullets was heard during the morning hours.

The Greek Prime Minister called for a meeting of the National Security Council with the continued influx of refugees, while the Greek authorities confirmed that they prevented thousands of migrants and refugees from entering after the withdrawal of the Turkish border guards.

This morning, four inflatable boats carrying about 220 immigrants arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos, while a fifth boat arrived on the island of Samos, after the arrival of 180 migrants to the Greek islands yesterday.

Maximum alert
The European Agency for the Control and Protection of Frontier Borders (Frontex) announced today, "raising the level of alertness to the maximum at all common borders with Turkey", and that it took measures to redeploy technical equipment and more elements in Greece after receiving a request for additional support from the Greek authorities.

The agency indicated that it was closely following the situation on the borders between Turkey and Greece and Bulgaria, and said, "We are looking at other ways to support European countries bordering Turkey."

On the other hand, Nigerian United Nations General Assembly President Tijani Mohamed Pande said that the best way to solve the refugee crisis is to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria and provide the necessary support to Turkey.

In a statement to Anadolu, Pandey said that the refugee crisis is not only a problem for Turkey, but rather the problem of the entire world.