A migrant boat goes missing on the coast of Greece-which further fuels tension between historic enemies.
There are no current wars within our assigned region; however there was been arising conflict between one of our chosen countries (Greece) and Turkey, regarding immigration in Greece. Europe has faced fluctuations in migrants over recent years. Migrants have been coming from the Island of Antalya, an island off the Southern Coast of Turkey. The government has made it difficult for people to claim asylum and has denied entry to hundreds of thousands per year. This has become a growing issue because this isn’t the first occurrence of denied entry in the country but also going missing. In 2021 alone, 3,000 migrants were reported dead or missing according to Axios. Early morning Wednesday, a migrant boat sank and 12 people have been reported missing. Al Jazeera reported the boat was en route for Italy. There is no indication of who is responsible however with an ongoing issue in Greece regarding immigration, this wouldn’t be surprising.
Pictured the right is Greek Prime Minister, Alex Tsipras (left) and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish President Erdogan has stated Greece has committed crimes against humanity with the most recent disappearance of migrants. Erdogan threatened to invade Greece if this issue isn’t dealt with. However, Greece has also been fueled for a possible war when Turkey supported an energy deal, regarding illegal drilling over waters Greece also claims with a Libyan Administration that Turkey has since disputed. If these conflicts between Turkey and Greece continue to escalate the consequences could be severe. Global efforts will be made to end this conflict occurring within the region. The war between Greece and Turkey could have severe ramifications if not addressed because NATO would have to get involved. This would further divide these NATO allies who are trying to appear as a united front during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Sources Used:
https://www.voanews.com/a/greece-warns-turkey-on-illegal-drilling-/6776832.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-greece-tensions-could-disrupt-nato-unity-experts-warn/6739413.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/11/migrant-search-greece-boat
https://www.reuters.com/article/greece-migrants-sinking/greece-searches-for-migrants-after-vessel-sinks-off-kythira-island-idUSKBN2R022R
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/29/more-than-3000-lost-in-sea-crossings-to-europe-in-2021-un