Greece has long been concerned about the flow of irregular migrants who cross its borders from Turkey, but a Greek plan to build a water-filled ditch along the two countries' shared border is causing concern in Ankara that the plan is not just about stopping migrants from crossing the frontier. From a very interesting article in The National:
"We are following the recent developments in Greece about digging a ditch at the Turkish border with concern," Egemen Bagis, Turkey's minister for EU affairs, said earlier this month. "I hope our Greek friends are not after a foreign crisis to divert the attention from their domestic crisis," Mr Bagis added in reference to the financial turmoil in Greece, which is close to bankruptcy and has to rely on help from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
It was "surprising to see Greece spending funds in such a project at a time when it is muddling through a financial crisis", Mr Bagis said. "For a more effective solution, Greece should have chosen to increase its cooperation with Turkey against irregular migration rather than coming up with palliative solutions."
Greece is digging a 120-kilometre trench along its north-eastern border river Evros, or Meric in Turkish, to hold back recurring river floods but also to stem illegal immigration, the Athens daily Ta Nea reported. The ditch, which is being built by the military, is reported to be seven metres deep and 30 metres wide. About 14.5km had been dug as of early August. The online edition of the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reported the trench was to be filled with water, adding that the project was treated as a "military operation".
According to the article, officials in Ankara are concerned the ditch is really designed to act as a barrier to Turkish tanks, which would then allow Greece to redeploy troops from that area to the Aegean, an area that is a flashpoint of dispute between Turkey and Greece. More details here.
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