In the presence of his Finnish counterpart, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu disseminated fake news against Greece again, accusing it of being “responsible for the death of 19 innocent people left in the cold” at the Greek-Turkish border.

The Turkish head of diplomacy targeted Gree e again repeating the unfounded allegations against Greece during a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto, who is in Turkey.

“Greece continues its policy of repulsion in violation of international law and in violation of human rights,” Cavusoglu said, adding: “Greece is responsible for the deaths of 19 innocent people who were left in the cold.”

Taking the floor, the Finnish Foreign Minister tried to defend Greece and Italy, which are the first countries hosting refugees.

“As far as Greece and Italy are concerned, it should be noted that taking into account the number of refugees and immigrants arriving in these countries, they are under great pressure. We have to carry the burden (of the refugees) together”. At the same time, he hastened to state: “I want to emphasise how important it is to work together on this issue. We know how much Turkey has helped the Syrian refugees and what kind of financial burden it has suffered.”

Cavusoglu’s statements are taking place at the same time as the Turkish government continues to allow the undisturbed operation of smuggling networks on the coasts of Asia Minor and Evros.

It is now clear that the Turkish authorities are “instrumentalising” the illegal immigration flows, in order to put pressure on Greece and the EU. Lately, Turkey has been ramping up the rhetoric of the alleged “repatriation” of migrants to the Aegean, ignoring the fact that Turkey had not prevented them from moving from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands.

Recently, and in reaction to the Turkish fake news, the Greek government spoke of  “Turkish propaganda” with government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou talking about: “a comprehensive propaganda plan on the part of Turkey.”

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