Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters

Turkey's Erdogan accuses Greek PM of migration 'lies'


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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of telling lies after Athens accused Ankara of "instrumentalising migration".

Ankara and Athens are often at loggerheads over migration, with the Nato allies accusing each other of failing to honour a deal to curb the flow of migrants passing through Turkey to Europe.

Mr Mitsotakis on Tuesday said Greece intercepted boats that came from Turkey, denying claims of pushing them back over the border.

"So rather than put the blame on Greece you should put it on those who have been instrumentalising migration systematically," he said.

Mr Erdogan, standing alongside visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, accused Mr Mitsotakis of "acting dishonestly".

"It is Greece condemning refugees to their deaths in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas," Mr Erdogan said. He said Turkey had "all the documents" to prove his claims.

"I have no idea how Greece would handle it if Turkey opened the doors" to migrants trying to reach Europe, as it briefly did during an escalation of the dispute last year, Mr Erdogan said.

Turkey signed a deal worth €6 billion ($6.87bn) with the EU in 2016 to stem the flow of migrants after more than a million people fled to Europe in 2015.

Turkey is home to about 3.6 million refugees from the conflict in Syria, and is often used as a transit country to Europe by migrants from countries including Afghanistan.

The bio

Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)

Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)

Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)

Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)

Updated: November 11, 2021, 10:52 PM