Turkish police move to stop Greece pushing migrants back

AMORIO, Greece (AP) — Over the years, villagers who live near Greece’s border with Turkey got used to seeing small groups of people enter their country illegally. The Greek residents often offered the just-arrived newcomers a bite to eat and directed them to the nearest police or railway station.

But the warm welcomes wore off. When Turkey started channeling thousands of people to Greece, insisting that its ancient regional rival and NATO ally receive them as refugees, the Greek government sealed the border and rushed police and military reinforcements to help hold back the flood.

Greeks in the border region rallied behind the expanding border force, collecting provisions and offering any possible contribution to what is seen as a national effort to stop a Turkish-spurred incursion.

In several cases, authorities asked villagers familiar with the local terrain to help locate migrants who managed to slip through holes cut in a border fence or to cross the River Evros — Meric in Turkish — that demarcates most of the 212-kilometer (132-mile) border.

“We were born here, we live here, we work here, we know the crossings better than anyone,” Panayiotis Ageladarakis, a community leader in Amorio, a village that lies some 300 meters (yards) from the river banks.

Other villages also responded to the call for volunteer trackers. Small groups of unarmed men monitor known crossing points after dark.

“We sit at the crossings, and they come,” Ageladarakis told The Associated Press as he drove a pickup truck with a fellow Greek border village resident along a rough track at night. “We keep them there most of the time, call police and they come and arrest them. Then, it’s a matter for the police. We aren’t interested in where they take them. We just try to help this effort taking place by the army and the police.”

Help for the border units also came from Evros businesses and store owners. Nikos Georgiadis, head of the local restaurant owners’ association, said his colleagues delivered food and water to units stationed at four points on the border.

“They also asked us for masks and gloves, and we’ll try to find some,” he said.

Ageladarakis said all the migrants he encountered over the past few days were cooperative.

“These people are frightened. Nobody has caused any trouble,” he said.

But the village community leader said that in his view, the people he encountered did not look like they were fleeing wars in their own countries.

“There’s nobody coming from a war,” he said. “None of them are refugees. They’re all illegal migrants and that’s why they’re trying to get into Europe (this way).”

Greek authorities said that out of a the 252 people arrested for illegal entry over the past week as of Friday, 64% were Afghans, 19% Pakistanis, 5% Turks and 4% Syrians, while the others were from Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Egypt.

"N_Fiddledog" said
Perhaps, but if you watch the first video you'll discover these "refugees" are not all Syrians. They're not even mostly Syrians.

Erdogan has been seeking support for his intervention in the Syrian civil war, which has been criticised by the EU.

As he arrived in Brussels today, Erdogan declared he expected 'concrete support' from all allies, including Greece, in the Syrian civil war.

"N_Fiddledog" said
BTW Iran is also helping Assad in Syria. Perhaps more so than Russia. You forgot to mention that.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic are close strategic allies, and Iran has provided significant support for the Syrian Government in the Syrian Civil War, including logistical, technical and financial support, as well as training and some combat troops. Iran sees the survival of the Syrian government as being crucial to its regional interests. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, was reported in September 2011 to be vocally in favor of the Syrian government. When the uprising developed into the Syrian Civil War, there were increasing reports of Iranian military support, and of Iranian training of NDF (National Defence Forces) both in Syria and Iran.

Lebanese Hezbollah fighters backed by Iran's government have taken direct combat roles since 2012. In the summer of 2013, Iran and Hezbollah provided important battlefield support for Assad, allowing it to make advances on the opposition.

From January 2013 onward, the Iranian military, primarily the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has, lost more than 2,300 soldiers in Syria. Many of the deaths have been officers, including several high-ranking officers, notably generals. Thousands of Iranian-backed militiamen consisting of ethnic Afghan and Pakistani immigrants inside Iran have also been killed. They joined IRGC-sponsored paramilitary organizations in exchange for salaries ($500 a month for new recruits) and residency papers, in an arrangement similar to a Foreign Legion. The Afghans are recruited largely from Hazara refugees inside Iran, and sometimes had combat experience before joining; their relation to the Iranian military is only vaguely acknowledged and sometimes denied, despite the troops being uniformed fighters led by IRGC officers, trained and equipped in Iran, with state funerals involving uniformed IRGC personnel. Among the dead are 2,000+ Afghans and at least 160 Pakistanis. Officially, the Afghan paramilitaries are part of the independent Liwa Fatemiyoun group, while the Pakistanis are part of the Liwa Zainebiyoun group.

Iranian troops and allied militias on the ground are supported by ballistic missile and air forces, including armed drones utilizing smart munitions. By October 2018, Iranian drones had launched over 700 strikes on ISIL forces alone.

"N_Fiddledog" said
But if you want to insist on talking the war in Syria, this is interesting:
Also let's remember only about 10% of Syria is Shia when we consider how kind the Shia armies of Iran and its proxies would feel required to be towards the Syrian population.

"Sunnyways" said
Iran has absolutely no business being in Syria and has certainly added to the problem of Syrian refugees in Turkey and Europe. Nobody disputes that. However, Iran is very much a junior member of the team.