12 people found frozen to death near Turkey’s border with Greece

The bodies of 12 people who froze to death have been found near Turkey’s border with Greece, with the Turkish interior minister accusing Greek border guards of pushing them back without proper safeguarding.
Süleyman Soylu tweeted that those who had died were found near the Ipsala border crossing “without shoes and stripped of their clothes” and had been among 22 people allegedly pushed back into Turkey by Greek border guards.
He did not provide further details but shared blurred photographs of eight of the recovered bodies, including three in shorts and T-shirts. He called the guards “thugs” and said they treated people seeking asylum badly, while then showing sympathy to a group who were behind a failed military coup when escaped to Greece.
He also accused the EU of being “helpless, weak and inhumane”.
Greece’s migration and asylum minister, Notis Mitarachi, said the deaths were a tragedy but strongly denied the claim that Greek forces had pushed people back into Turkey.
“The truth behind the incident has nothing to do with the false propaganda made public by my colleague, Mr Soylu,” Mitarachi said. “These specific migrants never made it to the border. Any suggestion that they may have reached it or been pushed back to Turkey is utter nonsense.”
“Instead of accusing others, Turkey should assume its responsibilities if we want to prevent such tragedies from occurring again,” he said. Turkey’s border with Greece is a hotspot for people from the Middle East, Asia and Africa trying to reach the EU. Most try to cross into Greece, a key gateway to the EU for people fleeing war or poverty, either by crossing the northeast land border or cramming into smuggling boats headed for the eastern Aegean islands.
Smuggling gangs have recently even been using yachts heading from Turkey to Italy. Dozens of people died in the central Aegean last month.

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