3 yıl önce

Turkey rescues over 250 asylum seekers pushed back by Greece

The pushbacks have been condemned by human rights groups and they are illegal under international refugee treaties.

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The pushbacks endanger innocent asylum seekers, including women and young children.

Turkey has rescued some 256 asylum seekers who were illegally pushed back to Turkish waters by Greece.

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 99 of the asylum seekers off the coast of Kusadasi in the western Aydin province, plus 157 others off the coast of the Aegean province of Izmir, on Tuesday.

Turkey and human rights groups have denounced Greece’s practice of pushbacks.

In addition to violating international law, the pushbacks endanger innocent asylum seekers, including women and young children.

In a separate operation, Turkey's security forces held 32 irregular migrants in the northwestern province of Kirklareli.

Ministers of Turkey and Greece hold talks

Meanwhile, the Interior Minister of Turkey Suleyman Soylu and Greece’s migration and asylum minister met in the Turkey's capital Ankara on Tuesday, according to Turkish sources familiar with the talks.

Soylu and Notis Mitarakis as well as accompanying delegations met behind closed doors and discussed migration and the fight against terrorism along with security issues, the sources added.

Turkey has been a key transit point for irregular migrants who want to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

It already hosts 4 million refugees, more than any country in the world, and is taking new security measures on its borders to humanly prevent a fresh influx of migrants.

The neighbouring countries are connected by a 2016 migration deal between Turkey and the European Union that drastically reduced irregular migration from Turkey to EU member Greece.

Turkey has complained that the EU failed to uphold its part of the deal, and has said the deal needs to be revised.