1 more refugee killed, 5 others injured by Greek police near border
AFP Photo
by Daily Sabah with Agencies
Mar 04, 2020 1:48 pm
Greek forces killed a migrant and wounded five others Wednesday as the migrants tried to cross the border between the two countries, Turkish officials said Wednesday.
TOPSHOT - A Greek anti-riot officer lobs a stone back at demonstrators during clashes against the construction of a new controversial migrant camp near the town of Mantamados on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, on February 26, 2020. - The Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos staged a general strike on February 26, as protests against the construction of new migrant camps intensified. For a second day, protesters on Lesbos faced off against riot police near the town of Mantamados, close to the site of a planned camp for up to 7,000 people. Small groups of protesters threw stones and firebombs at the police, who responded with tear gas and flash grenades. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP)
Two Turkish security officials and the local governor's office in the border province of Edirne said the migrant had died in a hospital from a chest wound after Greek police and border guards fired live ammunition near the crossing at Pazarkule. They said five others had suffered head and leg wounds.
Several Turkish ambulances were seen arriving at the scene.
TOPSHOT - Riot police detain a migrant during clashes near the Moria camp for refugees and migrants, on the island of Lesbos, on March 2, 2020. - More than 13,000 migrants have gathered on the Turkish side of the river which runs 200 kilometres (125 miles) along the frontier and separates them from Greece and therefore the European Union. The flow of migrants from Turkey has triggered EU fears of a re-run of the 2015 migrant emergency when Greece became the main EU entry point for a million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war. (Photo by ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP)
Thousands of migrants have been forced to sleep in the open, some since last week, exposed to the elements and in temperatures close to freezing in Edirne in northwestern Turkey.
Some have traveled by train, others by bus or taxi, all hoping that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's warning to Europe will mean they can eventually get to countries like Germany or Italy.
TOPSHOT - A migrant clash with Greek police on the buffer zone Turkey-Greece border, near Pazarkule crossing gate in Edirne, Turkey, on March 4, 2020. - Turkish officials claimed on March 4, 2020 that one migrant was killed by Greek fire on the Turkey-Greece border where thousands of migrants have massed since last week. But on the other side Greece "categorically" denied claims by Turkey that it had fired live bullets against migrants on the border, with several allegedly injured and one later dying. (Photo by BULENT KILIC / AFP)
Dozens have attempted to cross the Maritsa river to Greece while others described mistreatment by Greek authorities.
TOPSHOT - A woman protects her child, while police dispearses migrants who have gathered outside the port of Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos hoping to get on a ferry to Athens on March 3, 2020. - Several aid groups on Greece's Lesbos said they were suspending work with refugees and evacuating staff on March 3 in the wake of violence and threats, as tensions soar on an island in the crosshairs of the migrant crisis. EU chiefs pledged millions of euros of financial assistance to Greece to help tackle the migration surge. (Photo by LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP)
Over 100,000 migrants have left Turkish borders through Edirne for Europe since Friday, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said Sunday.
Last week, Turkish authorities announced that they would no longer prevent the flow of migrants who wanted to reach Europe.
The decision was made after 36 Turkish soldiers were killed by Bashar Assad regime forces in Idlib in northwestern Syria. The Turkish soldiers were deployed to the region to protect local civilians under a 2018 deal with Russia under which acts of aggression are prohibited.