Greece announced that it would add another 80 km to its 35 km concrete wall on its border with Turkey to prevent migrants from crossing into Europe, Turkish version of Deutsche Welle reported on Sunday.
In a statement, Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi told Skai TV that Greece would further extend concrete wall on its border with Turkey to prevent migrants from crossing the border on foot.
The existing wall is 35 km long. Greece is planning to add another 80 km to the border wall. The Greek Minister said that the additional wall would provide security for the areas where migrants could pass on foot to reach Europe.
The statement came after tensions escalated between Ankara and Athens. The two NATO member countries are at odds over the drilling of natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean and their territorial waters.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the statements of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who spoke in the US Congress. The Turkish President said that Mitsotakis “no longer exist” for him. Erdoğan accused the Greek Prime Minister of blocking sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Athens is worried that Erdoğan would use migrants as a trump card as he did in 2020, Deutsche Welle said.
Greece announced that 40,000 irregular migrants were prevented from entering the country this year alone.
Ahval