Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on his Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu’s fake news that 12 migrants had died in the cold near the Greek-Turkish border, after being repatriated by the Greek border authorities spreading more misinformation.

Speaking to reporters before leaving for Kyiv, Erdogan said: “Greece’s illegal treatment of illegal immigrants continues. Turkey points out this situation every time, but both the EU and the rest of the world remain silent. Do they intend to take action in the future? We can not swallow the fact that 12 people froze to death and this is not the first time that Greece acts in this way.” And he continued in an even more provocative way:

“There were a lot of people whose boats sank, after they were previously punctured, with the consequence that they were sentenced to death. The sinking of boats and the sentencing of people to death shows what Greece’s attitude is towards these people. Unfortunately, this behaviour is also an indicator of Greek culture. And the European Union has always been silent. People have remained silent and I do not think anything will change in the future. They made Frontex for this purpose, but it’s useless. They saw 12 people die from the cold and they continue to support Greece.”

He concluded: “We will present the photos we have to any world leader we meet, we will continue to fight.”

📆 02.02.2022
📍 Greece Ipsala Border

12 of the 22 migrants pushed back by Greek Border Units, stripped off from their clothes and shoes have frozen to death.

EU is remediless, weak and void of humane feelings.

Greek border units thug against victims, tolerant towards FETO pic.twitter.com/EP1TOqsGCB

— Süleyman Soylu (@suleymansoylu) February 2, 2022