The Greek Minister for Migration accuses Ankara of facilitating Somali immigration to Greece  

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis accused Turkey and NGOs on Tuesday of contributing to the granting of Turkish visas to Somali migrants to enable them to leave for neighbouring Greek islands and for Europe.  

Mitarakis accused Turkey of violating the migration agreement signed with the European Union in 2016, which, among other measures, stipulates that it must prevent the illegal crossing of migrants to Greece.  

In a press conference, Mitarakis stated that there are currently between 2,000 and 3,000 Africans at various points along the western coast of Turkey waiting to embark on a journey to some Greek island.   

According to Mitarakis, around 300 migrants arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos in November, of whom 142 came from Somalia.  According to the Greek minister. "When the Somalis arrive by plane in Istanbul, they are transferred in vans to specific locations in Istanbul before being taken to the Turkish west coast," the minister said.  

Last week, two young Somalis died when their makeshift boat sank off the Greek island of Lesbos off the Turkish coast. 32 Somalis were rescued by the Greek Coast Guard and transferred safely to Lesbos. Athens continues to accuse Ankara of "instrumentalizing" the migration issue to put pressure on the European Union, according to AFP.  

To reach Turkey legally, they obtain health certificates at Mogadishu's Erdogan hospital or are given university certificates that allow them to apply for a student visa, all for about 1,500 euros per person, Mitarakis said.  

According to Efe, the Greek minister, showed several recordings with testimonies from Africans, without clarifying where and under what circumstances they took place, a video was played in which a Somali migrant stated that in Istanbul the police arrested Afghans and Syrians, but not Somalis, and if they did so "they released them immediately". 

The accusations against Turkey come at a time when Greece is under the microscope of several international organisations precisely because of similar practices, the alleged illegal return of migrants' boats to Turkey, something that Mitarakis denied again today.  

The Turkish authorities have so far not responded to these accusations, but according to Minister Notis Mitarachi, citing testimonies of Somali migrants recently arrived in Greece, "a Turkish liaison office in Mogadishu facilitates" the granting of visas to travel to Turkey on the basis of certificates and documents provided by Ankara-funded institutions in Somalia.  

Turkey, for its part, accuses the EU of not providing enough aid to keep some four million migrants and refugees on its territory, many of whom want to come to Europe. At the end of February there were incidents on the Greek-Turkish land border, when Ankara encouraged thousands of migrants to cross the border into Europe.  

In October, the EU had sent a proposal to open up to Ankara, accompanied by the threat of sanctions if Turkey did not stop its actions.  

Sanctions against Ankara were on the agenda of the EU summit on 10 December, because of Turkey's gas exploration work in the eastern Mediterranean, in maritime areas disputed with Greece and Cyprus. The European Union is ready to sanction Turkey for Ankara's continued "unilateral acts and hostile rhetoric" in the Eastern Mediterranean.  

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that possible EU sanctions against Ankara for its controversial activities in the eastern Mediterranean were not "a major concern" for his country. "Any decision on EU sanctions is not a major concern for Turkey," Erdogan said.