Mainland Greece to temporarily house 'migrants from Turkey'

Greece says it is to set up two makeshift camps on its mainland to house the migrants that Turkey reportedly allowed into Europe to evoke a response from the continent.

"We want to build two closed centers in [the northern region of] Serres and the greater Athens area with 1,000 places," Notis Mitarachi, migration minister, told Greece’s Skai TV on Saturday.

"We need the backing of local communities. We cannot leave all [these] people on the islands," he said, referring to the Greek island of Lesbos and four other Augean islands that have been hosting Europe-headed migrants.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed on March 1 that the country would no longer keep migrants from crossing onto Europe, alleging that Turkey could host no more refugees from neighboring Syria.

Ever since, over 1,700 migrants are said to have landed on the islands from Turkey, adding to the 38,000 who are already crammed into overstretched refugee centers there.

Erdogan’s announcement came after Turkey’s military intervention in neighboring Syria prompted deadly clashes with the Syrian military, and threatened direct confrontation with Russia, which is backing Damascus against militancy and terrorism.

Observers say Turkey played the refugee card to enable European support for its operations in Syria, where Ankara backs a number of anti-Syria militant groups, and potentially pit the Western military alliance of NATO against Damascus and Moscow.

Turkey playing refugee card to drag NATO into Syria: Scholar

Kevin Barrett says Turkey seeks to have NATO support its acts of aggression against Syria.

Brussels responded coolly, however, and the attempted provocation backfired further amid reports that far-right European militants had come to Lesbos and the Greek border with Turkey amid the refugee influx to apparently spark incidents and prompt anti-migrant hatred.

AFP named one of the hardliners as Swedish far-right leader Jimmie Akesson, who reportedly handed out flyers in the northwestern Turkish province of Edirne with the message "Sweden is full."

On Friday, two Germans and two Austrians, who had identified themselves as journalists, but were exposed by local media as hardline nationalists, claimed to the police that they had been attacked and beaten at a market on Lesbos, the agency said. One of the four was named as Mario Mueller, a German member of the far-right Identitarian Movement, it added.

Amid the backlash, Erdogan said during a press conference alongside his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow that Turkey and Russia had agreed a ceasefire in Idlib.

The announcement that was largely implied as Ankara’s attempt to head off further repercussion from its refugee ploy was followed by reports of “calm” across the Syrian province.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk