Turkey cooperating on migration, says minister
Communication with Turkish authorities is constant and cooperation is smooth, Maritime Affairs and Island Policy Minister Christos Stylianides tells Kathimerini in an interview. But the continuing upheaval in the Middle East will test the two countries’ and, consequently, Europe’s ability to deal with a possible spike in migrant flows, he adds.
A former European commissioner for humanitarian affairs and crisis management and a former climate crisis and civil protection minister, he says Turkey wants to send a message to the EU that it is a reliable partner on the migration issue by cooperating with Greece. Gone are the days of migrant flow weaponization, as happened in early 2020.
Contrary to received wisdom, Stylianides says traffickers make more attempts to push people across the Aegean to Greek islands in bad weather than in good, when there are more coast guard patrols.
