12 boats carrying hundreds of migrants tried unsuccessfully to cross from the Turkish coast to its islands
Greece refuses to allow illegal immigrants to enter by land or sea
Refugees lying on the ground in the streets of Athens.
From the Turkish newspaper "Hurriyet"
Refugees sleeping in the open.
Reuters
Clashes with security men.
Getty
Refugees rejected by the Greek authorities.
archival
picture
Greece warned yesterday that it will not allow the illegal entry of migrants by land or sea, after a sharp increase in attempts to enter through the Aegean islands and the land border with Turkey over the past few days.
The Mediterranean country was on the front line of Europe's migration crisis in 2015-16, when a million refugees fleeing war and poverty from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan arrived mainly via Turkey.
Since then the number of arrivals has fallen sharply, but Greek authorities have said in recent weeks that they have denied entry to a large number.
According to police data, about a dozen boats carrying hundreds of migrants have tried unsuccessfully to cross from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands in the past 48 hours.
On Tuesday, the Coast Guard said that more than 590 people tried to cross into the country by sea within a few hours.
"We will not allow anyone to enter Greece illegally, whether from Evros or through the islands," Civil Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos told ANT1 TV.
Let everyone realize that.”
Theodoricakos was speaking the day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Greek Prime Minister of trying to prevent the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey during a visit to the United States.
Erdogan said that the Greek prime minister "no longer exists for me."
About 11,000 migrants entered Greece via the Greek-Turkish land border in the Evros region or through the islands of the Aegean Sea in the first four months of this year.
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