PAZARKULE (Turkey) • Greece said yesterday it has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its border with Turkey, which opened its gates to Europe as tensions mounted over its deepening conflict in Syria.
Migrant numbers have swelled along the rugged frontier after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last Thursday it has "opened the doors" to Europe in a bid to pressure European Union governments over the conflict.
Tensions have soared between Russia and Turkey - which back opposing forces in the Syrian war - after an air strike killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in Syria's north-western Idlib province last week.
Some 13,000 migrants have amassed at the Turkey-Greece border, including families with young children who spent the night in the cold, the International Organisation for Migration said.
An estimated additional 2,000 migrants arrived at the Pazarkule border crossing yesterday - including Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis - according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter.
But as the crowds rushed to enter Europe, Greek police and soldiers blocked 9,972 "illegals" from entering the Greek north-eastern Evros region over the past weekend, a Greek government source said.
Greek's Deputy Defence Minister Alkiviadis Stefanis said the country would not stand down. "We are protecting the borders of Greece and Europe with a firm hand," he said in an interview on Skai TV yesterday.
Migrants pressed on with efforts to enter Greece. Some attempted to swim across rivers or duck under fences, while others dragged suitcases as they marched towards the border where large crowds of migrants were already waiting, some wrapped in blankets or sleeping on dirt mounds.
Despite Greece's efforts to repel the crowds, several boats full of migrants arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos early yesterday, AFP journalists said.
Clashes erupted between police and migrants last Saturday on the Greece-Turkey border, with police firing tear gas at refugees who responded by lobbing rocks.
The Greek authorities said at least 139 migrants have been arrested since last Friday.
The EU's border protection agency Frontex told AFP yesterday it was on "high alert" at Turkey's borders with Europe and that it has "taken steps to redeploy to Greece technical equipment and additional officers".
It had received a request for support from Greece.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last Saturday the EU was watching the developments "with concern".
The past week's developments recalled events in 2015 when over a million migrants fled to Europe - mainly via Greece - in what became the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
