Details of 'migration' agreement with Greece and Bulgaria revealed: A '1-month' deal was made

According to journalist Murat Yetkin, Turkey has made a "1-month" migration agreement with Greece and Bulgaria.

Minister Yerlikaya explained the developments in migration diplomacy as follows:

"NOT A SINGLE PERSON CROSSED"

“We held a meeting with Greece's Minister of Migration and Asylum, Dimitris Kairidis, on September 19. I said, ‘We will not send a single person to you for one month, and you do not push back a single person to us.’ He accepted. We told the Coast Guard to ‘press hard.’ We made a similar agreement with Bulgaria.

We sent two battalions of soldiers, the gendarmerie, to the Greek and Bulgarian borders. Our soldiers stood back-to-back and effectively became a wall. Bulgaria sent about 100 people one day; we said, ‘We will break the agreement,’ and they corrected it immediately. A few days ago [October 23], the Greek Minister came to Ankara. We were proven right. In this one month, not a single person crossed in either direction.

Sometimes we are criticized for this. People say, ‘Why are you stopping them? Let them go.’ But thanks to this, both smugglers and irregular migrants have started to be deterred from the Turkey route. Once you hold the entry points, it becomes easier to keep things under control.”

News Source: 12punto