Greek authorities and Frontex officers on Saturday rescued 92 young men forced by Turkish police to cross a river separating the two countries aboard three inflatable craft, and after being stripped of their clothes and possessions, a shocking development that has reverberated around the world, and one that again demonstrates the barbarity of the authoritarian Erdogan government in Turkey.
The group is reportedly comprised of third country nationals that lived and worked in Turkey, but without legal residency documents.
In an attempt to shift the blame for the odious action, top officials in the Islamist Erdogan government first claimed that the incident was merely “fake news”, before then claiming that Greece was trying to slander Turkey as a part of a defamatory campaign against the predominately Muslim country.
Migrant smuggling gangs operating in Turkey, either under the nose of authorities there or, in some cases, with the support of various Turkish security forces, have attempted to smuggled tens of thousands of third country nationals onto Greek territory, and by extension, to the European Union, over the past three years.
In response, the Greek side said it will take the matter, confirmed by photos and videos, to the UN and other international bodies.
