/GBG/ - Greek Borders General

2022-05-27 13:01:23 IMPORTANT

EU External Action Service Secretary-General issued an official protest against Turkish provocative overflights
>https://archive.is/DwpQB

The intervention of the European Union was caused by the violations of Turkish fighters, who flew 2.5 miles from Alexandroupolis (being already over Greek territory)

EU External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino said:

"Our serious concern about the flights of Turkish military aircraft near the Greek city of Alexandroupolis has been conveyed to the Permanent Representation of Turkey to the EU.
Respect for international law and abstaining from actions that undermine cohesion among allies is at this critical juncture, more important than ever."

/GBG/
reports of Turkish fighter jets performing overflights on Greek islands and prompting dogfights with Greek pilots have also been plentiful in the last two weeks

@GreekBordersGeneral
/GBG/ Open / Comment

2022-05-27 11:01:53 4 inflatable dinghy boats once again tried to enter Greek waters
>https://archive.is/lurAs

According with Greek Coast Guard officials, on 24/05, one day after the 9 boats that tried to enter Greek waters with almost 600 illegal immigrants, 4 inflatable dinghy boats have once again tried to enter Greek waters carrying 150 illegal immigrants

The Greek Coast Guard once again prevented their entry into Greek waters and the boats were forced to return to Turkey once again.

The coast guard has also stated that such incidents have already become a daily occurrence and that they are expecting a very difficult summer

@GreekBordersGeneral
/GBG/ Open / Comment

2022-05-27 09:00:22 IMPORTANT

New images show even more vandalism in Hagia Sofia
>https://archive.is/wdMLK
>https://archive.is/xgrMr
>https://archive.is/wb1iE

New reports show that Hagia Sofia is being vandalized on a daily basis. The new images show that people have written messages/names on the walls while others have been damaging the internal walls so they could take crumbs of it with them

The Turkish government once again tries to deflect the blame just as when the Imperial Gates were damaged (link to post here), but this time they tried to claim that the women in the image (who were not identified or arrested) were Christian tourists

@GreekBordersGeneral
/GBG/ Open / Comment

2022-05-24 15:00:41 How the Greek PM convinced Biden to not reinstate Turkey to the F-35 program and turn back from the recent proposal of upgrading Turkey's outdated F-16 fleet
>https://archive.is/HUGll

According with reports, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis met with U.S President Joe Biden, most of the talks regarding the subject took place behind closed doors.

The PM showed official maps of the Turkish "blue homeland" which are used officially by the Turkish government. The PM also reminded Joe Biden of Turkey's challenges regarding the sovereignty of Greek islands as well as not respecting international law regarding the maritime zones and performing overflights above populated Greek Islands

/GBG/
The move by the Greek PM was extremely well executed given that Biden has been seen as a president that can be pressured into doing many things and seen as weak. The Turkish F-16 fleet is extremely outdated, even if compared with the Greek F-16 jets

@GreekBordersGeneral
/GBG/ Open / Comment

2022-05-24 13:00:41 Greek Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Lithograph from 1870 that shows the architectural beauty of this ancient temple. @GreekLeague Open / Comment

2022-05-24 11:01:29 IMPORTANT

Greek border guards report unusually high immigration flows into Greece
>https://archive.is/OaEpv

"Every day there are about 200-300 arrests of illegal immigrants who try to cross the Greek-Turkish border - There are no specific crossing spots, they use the entire border of the Evros river"

The smugglers are trying to take advantage of the low levels of the river in order to cross many small groups of immigrants into Greece. The river gets as low as 0.5m (1.7 ft) deep in the shallowest areas, it would normally be at least 2.5m (8.2ft) deep

The authorities report that every week there are around 10-15 arrests of smugglers. The border patrol has received 400 additional men and some known crossing paths are under surveillance and have been fortified, but the river levels makes the whole situation worse

The expectations so far are that 2022's summer will be a very challenging one, with very high immigration levels (FRONTEX will deny it)

@GreekBordersGeneral
/GBG/ Open / Comment

2022-05-24 09:01:33 IMPORTANT

590 illegal immigrants tried to enter Greece sailing on Sailboats and inflatable dinghies this weekend (22/05)
>https://archive.is/Ajkb8

The incidents took place in the sea area near the Greek islands of Chios and Samos. It is part of a "seasonal" wave of migration where during summer the influx of immigrants tends to rise a lot compared to the rest of the year.

The five sail boats and four inflatable dinghies that had sailed off the Turkish coast and were carrying a total of 590 people (450 in sailing and 140 in inflatables)

They were spotted by the Greek Coast Guard which prevented their entry into Greek waters. The operation was in progress until noon on Monday (23/05)

3 out of 5 sailboats returned to Turkey while the two others were expected to be escorted back to Turkey by Turkish authorities. The inflatable dinghies also returned to the Turkish coast and were escorted/towed back

A large increase in immigration is expected this summer

@GreekBordersGeneral
/GBG/ Open / Comment

2022-05-17 12:00:38 https://www.protothema.gr/world/article/1242582/eurokoinovoulio-paramenei-o-pagos-stin-tourkia-oi-sheseis-me-ta-geitonika-krati-meli-paramenoun-proklisi/


According to the European Parliament, Turkey has shown little to no progress in the institutional reforms required for its accession to the EU, and has even regressed regarding human rights.

However, the importance of the EU-Turkey cooperation regarding regional security and foreign policy making is to be applauded, according to the European Parliament. Open / Comment

2022-05-17 10:01:25 https://www.protothema.gr/world/article/1242077/ipa-i-kuvernisi-baiden-zita-apo-to-kogreso-na-egrinei-tin-anavathmisi-ton-tourkikon-f-16/

President Biden is urging Congress to approve the sale of weapons systems to Turkey, so the latter can upgrade their F16 airplanes.

Next on the list, is the sale of 40 additional F16 planes to Turkey. Open / Comment

2022-05-16 13:00:11 A Hellenistic mosaic glass bowl. Late 3rd-2nd century BC Open / Comment