Erdogan: “Athens killed two migrants” – Greece: “Gross, Fake News!”

Greece dismissed late on Sunday the claims by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that “Athens killed two migrants” at the Greek-Turkish borders. It is “gross and deliberate misinformation: Fake News,” government spokesman Stelios Petsas responded.

“Athens has no respect for international migration law and Greek security forces had killed two migrants and injured one,” Erdogan said in Ankara on Sunday.

His claim was immediately tweeted by Turkish news agency anadolu

#BREAKING Erdogan says Athens has also no respect for international migration law, it killed 2 people, injured 1

— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) March 2, 2020

Prompt was Greece’s response:

No shots have been fired by Greek border forces against any individuals attempting to enter Greece illegally. The contrary amounts to no more than gross and deliberate misinformation: Fake News.#fakenews #fakeTurkishPropaganda

— Stelios Petsas (@SteliosPetsas) March 2, 2020

Early Monday, also the Greek Foreign Ministry joined the criticism.

When a country uses people as a battering ram, fabricates fake news to mislead them, and systematically violates the sovereignty and sovereign rights of neighboring countries, it is in no position to point fingers at anyone. (1/2)

— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) March 2, 2020

A video circulating in social media and broadcast by Turkish TV state and private channels on Monday was displaying graphic close-up images, of a “Syrian refugee allegedly killed by Greek security forces while trying to cross into Greece.” No evidence has been provided to verify the originality of the video or any other clue to support the claim.

Also this was officially denied by the Greek government, earlier on Monday.

Video showing fatality on Greek-Turkish border is fake news. We call upon everyone to use caution when reporting news that furthers Turkish propaganda. #fakenews #fakeTurkishPropaganda

— Stelios Petsas (@SteliosPetsas) March 2, 2020

During a joint press conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Ankara, Erdogan said that the European Union and world public opinion do not understand the situation of Turkey, which already hosts more than 4 million refugees.

He noted that the EU had not fully met the requirements under the March 18, 2016 EU-Turkey refugee deal and expectations on responsibility sharing remained unanswered.

He said Turkey rejected Europe’s offer of €1 billion in migrant aid because Ankara had already spent $40 billion and would find a way to earn that money.

“Supporting Erdogan in his speech, Borisov said no one understands the depth of the crisis on the Turkish-Greek border,” news agency anadolu reported on Monday evening.