The number of migrants attempting to cross illegally

[Turkey into Greece]

PEACE and LOVE at the Turkey Border at time, but for how long?
Greek-Turkish border returns to normal — but for how long?

The number of migrants attempting to cross illegally from Turkey into Greece returned to normal levels on Monday and Tuesday following the efforts of the Greek security forces, aided by officers sent from other European countries, to halt them. But it’s unclear how long this respite will last.

“The last few days, the situation at the borders was very stable,” a spokesman for Greece’s Foreign Ministry told EUobserver in a report on the situation. “We had very few attempts from migrants to enter.” Similar statements were made by representatives of both the EU and the UN.

Tens of thousands of migrants have been attempting to forcefully enter Greece since the end of February, when Turkey’s President, Recep Erdoğan, announced that the country would no longer stop migrants from crossing Turkish territory in an effort to enter Greece, and through them, the European Union. The migrants, many of whom are fighting-aged men, even employed weapons such as incendiary bombs and tear gas against the Greek border guards, and were being aided by the Turkish police, as reported by Voice of Europe. Several other European nations, including Austria and the Visegrád Group countries, either sent or had promised to send police to reinforce the Greek units.

Greece has claimed that most of the migrants were stopped at the border. Turkey has countered that more than 130,000 made it into Greece in recent weeks.

Over the past few days, some migrants have been seen leaving the area of the Greek border, and The New York Times reported that the Turkish government had been sending buses to bring migrants back to Istanbul. The International Organization for Migration told EUobserver that thousands remain, however, and are likely waiting to see how Turkey’s ongoing negotiations with the EU regarding migrants develop.

In spite of the lull, however, migrants again clashed with security forces along the Greek border early on Wednesday morning, as reported by Voice of Europe, and attempted to break through the fence. It remains to be seen if this was a temporary setback or if the respite from violence is already over.

Greece has also accused Turkey of sending its own citizens to the border disguised as refugees with the intention of creating fake news to support Turkish propaganda regarding the migrants, as reported by Ahval News.

The Turkish government is sticking to the stance it announced in February, however, and says that migrants are still welcome to attempt to enter Europe through their territory if they wish. Turkey is using the migrants as a bargaining chip in an effort to pressure the European Union into supporting it in its conflict with Syria. Syria is being backed by Russia, which has been conducting bombing raids that are causing millions more migrants to cross into Turkey.

Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, told The Guardian that the real issue clearly wasn’t the migrants, but geopolitics.

Unless the international community can find a solution to the Syrian problem, it seems inevitable that sooner or later, the flow of migrants towards Greece will resume.
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