Greek security forces throw stones at asylum seekers

EDIRNE, Turkey

Greek security forces threw stones at asylum seekers on Wednesday on the border with Turkey.

The asylum seekers are waiting in and around the buffer zone located between the Pazarkule-Kastanies border crossing.

The Greek security forces fired pepper and tear gas on the asylum seekers and used slingshots to throw stones on them.

The forces also used gas shells and water cannons on asylum seekers, who came close to the border gate.

Wounded asylum seekers are treated in tent hospitals set up by the health officials.

Turkey recently announced that it would no longer try to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe.

Thousands of asylum seekers have since flocked to Turkey’s Edirne province -- bordering Greece and Bulgaria -- to make their way to Europe.

The Greek reaction to asylum seekers has been harsh, with many battered, attacked, or tear-gassed, and several killed by Greek forces.

With 3.7 million Syrian migrants in Turkey already, more than any other country in the world, and some 1 million poised across the border in Idlib, Syria, Ankara says it cannot absorb another refugee wave.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut