Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a telephone call Friday that a new wave of migration will become inevitable if necessary measures are not taken” to help Afghanistan and neighboring countries, such as Iran, where Afghan migrants would head before trying to reach Turkey and Europe.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed developments in Afghanistan in a rare call, as both countries worry over a potential influx of refugees fleeing the Taliban.
Erdogan also said that Turkey, which has reinforced its border with Iran, was discussing the issue of Afghan migrants with Tehran, according to a statement from his office. There’s been an increase in recent weeks in Afghans entering Turkey from Iran.
Meanwhile, Athens insists it will not allow a repetition of 2015, when hundreds of thousands of people crossed in smugglers’ boats to Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast, on their way to seek asylum in more prosperous EU countries.
Turkey has also expressed concern over the potential of large numbers of Afghans heading its way.
On Thursday, Erdogan called on European nations to shoulder the responsibility for people fleeing the Taliban, warning that Turkey will not become Europe’s “refugee warehouse.”
Greece’s defense and citizens’ protection ministers visited the northeastern Evros land border with Turkey on Friday to view barriers against potential migratory pressure and other recently installed security systems.
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