President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered the Turkish coastguard to prevent migrants crossing the Aegean sea because of the risks, state media reported.
"On the orders of the president... permission will not be given for migrants to cross the Aegean sea because it is dangerous," the coastguard was quoted as saying by Anadolu news agency late Friday.
This comes as The EU on Friday pleaded with migrants on the Turkish border to stop trying to cross into Greece but dangled the prospect of more aid for Ankara as a standoff between Greek riot police and refugees entered a second week.
Turkey agreed in 2016 to stop letting migrants leave in exchange for six billion euros – but Ankara says other parts of the EU deal including improved visa and trade rules were never fulfilled.
-
EU rejects Turkey’s ‘blackmail,’ borders to stay closed to migrants: France FM
The European Union will not give in to “blackmail” by Turkey and its borders will remain closed to migrants despite Ankara’s threat ... World News -
Turkey rejected 1 bln euro migrant aid from EU: Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he had rejected an EU offer of an additional one billion euros to help deal with the roughly ... World News