ATHENS (Sputnik) — Amid a major migrant crisis, Turkey is a key transit country for refugees from the Middle East, attempting to reach Europe. Approximately 160,000 asylum seekers arrived in Greece from Turkey in October alone, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
"It is necessary to solve the problem, which acquires a new development with the war in the Middle East. We have explained that joint patrols with Turkey are out of the question. We requested the intervention of Frontex as a European border agency," Kammenos said Saturday.
Some EU countries have demanded that Greece and Turkey organize joint border patrols, but Athens noted that there are no international waters between the two countries, stressing that Turkey should not allow undocumented migrants leave its shores for Europe.
