US warns Americans in Greece to avoid Turkish border

Greek security forces intervene in asylum seekers, who attempt to cross the barbed fence at the closed-off Greek-Turkish border, in Kastanies, Greece on 4 March 2020 [DIMITRIS TOSIDIS/Anadolu Agency]

The US Embassy in Greece warned Americans in Greece to avoid Turkish-border areas Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

The embassy also said it “received reports of violence against US citizens attempting to travel in Lesvos.”

The embassy said some violent clashes occurred and will continue to happen on Lesvos island and the land border Evros.

Americans are urged to depart areas they feel unsafe, keep a low profile and avoid crowded areas.

READ: As the refugee crisis in Syria worsens, history will record the failures of great democracies

More than 130,000 refugees have crossed to Europe after Turkey opened its borders, accusing the EU of not fulfilling promises it made as part of a 2015 agreement reached on the refugee crisis.

Greek reaction to refugees and asylum seekers has been harsh, with many battered, tear-gassed and at least two killed by Greek security forces.

Turkey currently hosts nearly four million Syrian refugees, making it the world’s top refugee-hosting country.

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.