ANKARA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Ministry Thursday slammed Greece for attempting to cover up "human rights violations and crimes" in handling the migrant issue and accused the European Union of being part of the attitude.
"The remarks made by Greek Foreign Minister (Nikos) Dendias together with EU High Representative (for Foreign Affairs Josep) Borrell at the Turkish-Greek border yesterday are first of all a new manifestation of Greece's effort to cover up human rights violations and crimes against asylum seekers under the EU umbrella," Hami Aksoy, the spokesperson of the Turkish foreign ministry said in a written statement.
"The EU Commission is a partner of this," he added.
Aksoy called on the EU and Greece to pay respect to the rights of the migrants and fulfill their legal obligations instead of accusing Turkey.
Dendias on Wednesday accused Turkey of "exploiting" thousands of migrants at their border four months ago and expressed concern that Turkish authorities may again allow them to reach the border crossing, just as it had happened in late February and early March this year.
"This deplorable attempt to blackmail the European Union failed," Dendias said during a visit with Borrell to a military post at a border crossing with Turkey.
In February, Ankara opened its border gate to Europe for illegal migrants after the killing of at least 33 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria.
Turkey is hosting over 3.7 million Syrians in its territory. Enditem
