Çavuşoğlu criticizes Greece, Frontex over ill-treatment of refugees

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has criticized Greece’s ill-treatment of refugees and accused Frontex of aiding and abetting the incident in which 92 migrants were reportedly found almost naked and bruised on the Turkish-Greek border.

Çavuşoğlu accused Greece of being “shameless and reckless “ as it tried to “appear right even in the most unfair situation.”

“It came to light how Frontex changed the coordinates as if they were in Turkish territorial waters,” Çavuşoğlu said on Oct. 17 at an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of Organization of Turkic States member states.

“It is natural that Greece, whose [crime] report is very high, slanders Türkiye as its crime increases,” he added.

Frontex is “complicit,” he said, stressing that EU countries accept everything Greece says. “It is Europe that encourages Greece,” Çavuşoğlu stated.

Greek authorities claimed that Türkiye forced 92 naked migrants into Greece. Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi was “sharing false information” after the official tweeted a photo of naked migrants on Oct. 15 and blamed Türkiye, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said.