In Photos: Refugees Stuck at Border Crossing as Greece Steps up Measures

Photos: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

After Turkey announced it would no longer try to stop refugees from reaching Europe, a new migration wave has begun.

Since last night (February 27), many people have been heading to the northwestern border provinces and provinces on the coast of the Aegean Sea to cross into Greece and Bulgaria.

Turkey's move came after yesterday's attack by the government forces of Syria that claimed the lives of 33 soldiers. 

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However, the refugees who tried to enter Greece via land borders had to stop at the Pazarkule (Kastanies) Border Crossing as Greece deployed border guards, who used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people.

Turkey's border guards "have disappeared since this morning," said the mayor of Greece's border town of Orestiada, Vassilis Mavridis, Ekathimerini reported.

Greece has stepped up measures against a migration flow both at land borders and on the sea, the outlet said, citing officials from Athens.

Yet some refugees managed to reach Greece's islands on the Aegean Sea, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. Fifteen refugees from Afghanistan, including five children, have been taken to the Moria camp on Lesbos island.

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had said that the "awful conditions" at Moria camp, which currently hosts more than 7,500 refugees, have "had a dramatic impact on their health and in particular their mental health." 

Refugees have been gathering in the coastal towns in the Agenean provinces of İzmir, Çanakkale and Aydın to cross to the islands since the morning.

Turkey currently hosts more than 3.6 million refugees, according to the Ministry of Interior.

Peter Stano, a spokesperson of the European Commission, said today that they expect Turkey to fulfill its commitments to a refugee agreement between Ankara and Brussels. (AS/VK)