PAZARKULE: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the Turkish coastguard to stop migrants from making risky Aegean sea crossings, as fresh clashes erupted on Saturday pitting migrants against Greek border police.

Thousands of migrants have massed on the land border with Greece after Erdogan said last week that Turkey would not prevent migrants from leaving for EU territory, sparking violence and an escalating row between Ankara and Brussels.

The Turkish coastguard tweeted on Friday that “on the orders of the president... permission will not be given for migrants to cross the Aegean sea because it is dangerous.” It said, however, Turkey’s policy of allowing migrants and refugees to leave was untouched, and the instruction only affected sea crossings.

Over 1,700 migrants landed on Lesbos and four other Aegean islands from Turkey over the past week.

Turkey and the European Union have traded accusations, with Ankara telling Brussels to implement a 2016 migration deal, and the bloc claiming Ankara was using the migrants as political pawns.

Erdogan will head to Belgium where the EU is headquartered for a one-day visit on Monday, the Turkish presidency said, but has not given details of his trip.

During a tense hours-long stand-off on Saturday, Greek police used tear gas and water cannons on migrants trying to break fences in the border province of Edirne, according to journalists at the scene.

Meanwhile, Turkish and Greek officials descended into a war of words later on Saturday.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “wouldn’t be able to hold the borders” as the weather improves, adding that the Meric (Evros in Greece) river level fell to 40-45cm (16 to 18 inches) in some areas.

Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas told Open TV that people had been threatened to “board buses to Greece” while others were “beaten to head back to Kastanies.”

The situation which worsened since Friday saw migrants respond by throwing stones and also shouted “Open the gates” amid clouds of smoke. Turkish security forces also responded by using tear gas.

A correspondent could see Greek authorities build embankments on its side.

Many migrants have been stranded in biting cold for days at the Pazarkule border, known as Kastanies on the Greek side. Greek authorities deny using force or acting illegally.

“We have not used any sort of excessive force and we’re always reacting, we’re never initiating, in terms of responding to the provocations that have taken place on the border,” the Greek premier told CNN.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2020