Turkey treats migrants allegedly beaten by Greek troops

EDIRNE, Turkey

A group of irregular migrants allegedly pushed back forcibly to Turkey after being beaten by Greek soldiers are being nursed back to health in Edirne, northwestern Turkey, near the Greek border.

The 68 irregular migrants caught by Turkish border guards in a forbidden military zone -- including Afghan, Pakistani, Algerian and Bangladeshi nationals -- had been trying to illegally cross to Europe.

Six of the migrants were found to suffer injuries due to beating.

The injured were taken to hospital, while others were referred to the provincial refugee center after medical checks.

Rehber Yusufi, one of the injured migrants, said he was beaten by Greek border police and forcibly sent back to Turkey.

Yusufi said that five Greek police officers beat him for two hours and broke his arm.

According to local security forces in Edirne, in recent months Greece has been forcibly sending back irregular migrants to Turkey, in a move that violates the Geneva Convention, European Convention on Human Rights, and the UN Convention Against Torture.

In 2018, some 268,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey, according to the Interior Ministry.

Nearly 337,000 irregular migrants have been held in 2019 so far, said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz