According to local media reports, the Turkish Coast Guard has detained more than 200 migrants, including Afghans and Syrians, who are taking a fishing boat across the Aegean Sea in an attempt to reach Greece.
This number is one of the largest numbers reported this year and reflects an increase in the number of people seeking asylum in Europe following the calm caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the new private DHA agency, 231 migrants from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Eritrea, Yemen and Pakistan were intercepted by the Turkish Coast Guard in the town of Ayvacik near Lesbos in Greece.
According to the news agency, the police also detained two suspected organizers and the immigrants paid them between US$6,000 and US$7,000 to smuggle them to Italy.
Turkey is one of the main transit routes for immigrants from Afghanistan and parts of North Africa and the Middle East.
Ankara and the European Union reached an agreement in 2016 to curb the flow of immigrants into Europe. According to the agreement, Ankara set up settlement camps in exchange for incentives such as economic assistance.
Turkey hopes that the EU will update the agreement, and due to the continuous withdrawal of US and NATO troops, Afghanistan has become a top priority on the agenda.
Turkey has hosted more than 3.6 million Syrians who fled the country’s ten-year conflict.
Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkish officials are holding high-level talks with Afghan officials on immigration issues.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz caught people’s attention in Ankara last weekend when he told the German Bild newspaper that Turkey is a more suitable place for Afghans than EU countries to settle.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs called these remarks “selfish” and warned that Turkey “will not become a border guard or refugee camp for the EU.”
Erdogan opened the door for immigration to Europe last year — leading to skirmishes on the Greek border for several days — which aroused the anger of EU leaders, who accused Ankara of “extortion.”
