EU covering up Greek human rights violations: Turkey

ANKARA

Turkey on Thursday slammed remarks by Greek and EU officials critical of Ankara’s handling of the migrant issue along its borders, calling them an attempt to whitewash Athens’ human rights violations.

The remarks this Wednesday by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at the Turkish-Greek border show Greece's effort to cover up its crimes against asylum seekers under the EU umbrella, said Hami Aksoy, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman.

"The fact that the EU Commission is a partner to this is exemplary," Aksoy said.

Aksoy cited the words of Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, saying that it is the moral and legal obligation of member states to respect and protect the dignity of asylum seekers.

"Instead of blaming our country, we invite the EU and Greece to fulfill their personal responsibilities once again and to respect the rights of asylum seekers," he said.

This March, after Turkey stopped trying to block asylum seekers from reaching Greece’s border by land, Greek border guards wounded thousands of asylum seekers and killed several.

The harsh Greek reaction to the asylum seekers included blast bombs, rubber bullets and live ammunition, and tear gas.

Human rights groups have also documented hundreds of cases of asylum seekers being robbed, abused, and stripped by Greek forces along the land border, or forcibly pushed back in boats along coastal borders.

Aksoy also said that Dendias' statements on the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean were divorced from reality.

Aksoy emphasized that Greece along with the Greek Cypriot Administration should stop dreaming about confining Turkey to its coastline.

"Greece would not benefit from setting up an evil alliance against Turkey and attempting to abuse the EU,” he said.

"Instead, Greece should respect the legitimate rights and interests of Turkey and rather than complaining about it and relying on others, they should try to solve issues by speaking to us.”

Turkey has consistently contested efforts by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration to deny Turkey’s territorial and energy exploration rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also have rights to the resources in the area.

Since last year, Ankara has sent drilling vessels to the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting the right of Turkey and the TRNC to the resources of the region.