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.

ME