12 migrants found frozen to death near Turkey Greece border ‘stripped of clothes and shoes’

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Greece had pushed them back into Turkey; he shared blurred photos, with 3 bodies in shorts, T-shirts

Turkey, not in the EU, often accuses EU-member Greece of illegally pushing back migrants wanting to reach Europe; Greece denies such accusations

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Migrants and refugees arriving from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos try to keep warm in 2020. Turkey’s Interior Minister said on Wednesday that 12 migrants had been found frozen to death near Turkey’s border with Greece. File photo: AFP

Published: 9:04pm, 2 Feb 2022

The bodies of 12 migrants who froze to death have been found near Turkey’s border with Greece, the Turkish interior minister said on Wednesday, accusing Greek border guards of pushing them back over the frontier.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu tweeted that the 12 were among 22 migrants who were “pushed back” into Turkey by Greek border guards. He said they were found near the Ipsala border crossing between Turkey and Greece “stripped of their clothes and shoes”.

The minister did not provide further details but shared blurred photographs of eight of the recovered bodies, including three in shorts and T-shirts.

The temperature at Ipsala was 2 degrees Celsius with rain, according to the local weather agency.

The authenticity of the images could not be independently verified. The victims’ nationalities were not immediately clear.

Women in Iraq mourn in an ambulance last year over the remains of five migrants who died when their boat capsized while attempting a crossing of the Aegean Sea. File photo: AFP

Soylu accused Greek border units of acting as “thugs” towards migrants while showing sympathy towards members of a network – which Turkey says is behind a 2016 failed military coup – who have escaped to EU-member Greece.