As Athens trying with help from the European Union to seal off its eastern land and sea frontiers, thousands of migrants searched for ways to cross Greece’s border with Turkey Tuesday.
Turkey opened its borders for those seeking to cross illegally into Europe.
The action by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan triggered days of violent clashes and scenes of chaos at the border. Greece has struggled to push back the wave of migrants, with its armed forces now leading the effort.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis toured the troubled border area where he was to receive top EU leaders including the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen later Tuesday.
“We will not be blackmailed and no one will cross the border illegally,” Mitsotakis said after being greeted by residents in border areas who clapped and chanted his first name.
The government has accused Turkey of causing a risk to its national security and has imposed emergency measures to carry our summary deportations and deny migrants the right to apply for international protection for one month.
The Greek army and navy held live fire exercises across the eastern border areas for a second day Tuesday to reinforce its message of deterrence. Frontex, the EU border protection agency, said it was finalizing plans to send additional resources to Greece, while several individual EU members. including Austria, have also offered additional support.
Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, leveled blunt criticism at Turkey for the crisis.
“The people are being used by President Erdogan as a political football, as weapons and as instruments of pressure on the European Union,” Kurz said at a press conference in Vienna. “This is no coincidence, it is organized.”
Greek authorities said that in the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday morning, they had prevented a total of 5,183 people from entering Greece, and arrested 45 people, mostly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco and Bangladesh.
Greece has made clear its borders are shut. Authorities have also set up cordons of police and army checks on and near the border, arresting those who managed to make it through.
Migrants have also been trying to reach Greece by making the short but often perilous sea crossing to islands from the nearby Turkish coast. A young boy died on Monday after the dinghy he was in capsized off the coast of the island of Lesbos. The other 47 people in the boat were rescued. Crossings to the islands slowed to a halt Tuesday due to high winds, authorities said.
On Monday night, Greek authorities said they had stopped more than 24,000 attempted illegal crossings at the land border with Turkey since early Saturday, and arrested 183 people — very few of whom were Syrians.
