Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says "with the efforts of our Coast Guard... we have saved the lives of 41,000 people who were left to die by Greece" in the Aegean sea over the last two years.
Ankara and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal pushbacks, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law.
(AA)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Türkiye saved the lives of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers illegally pushed back by Greece.
“With the efforts of our Coast Guard, we have prevented deaths in the Aegean," Erdogan said at a Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy's graduation ceremony in the capital Ankara on Monday.
"In the last two years, we have saved the lives of 41,000 people who were left to die by Greece," he said.
Erdogan said the number of migrants apprehended by the Turkish Coast Guard has reached 245,000, adding Gendarmerie continues its fight against irregular migration and human traffickers.
"If anyone still criticises our defence industry breakthroughs despite the military build-up in Greece, it means they have become deprived of strategic vision," he added.
Türkiye has been a key transit point for migrants and asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
Ankara and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.
READ MORE: Greece’s deadly pushback tactics, explained
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKfi4Od7DfI[/embed]
Source: AA
Clay Nickels and his wife, McKenzie, were woken up at 5 a.m. on Thursday morning to what they thought was someone banging at their door.
When they went to check, it turned out to be rocks from a mudslide hitting the side of their house, Clay told CNN.
Immediately the couple began packing up their important documents and valuables and evacuated to McKenzie’s mother’s house nearby. Clay said McKenzie had a plan in place and packed everything up within five minutes.
The Nickels live in Neon, Kentucky, in Letcher County, a part of the state that was heavily affected by the floods.
After things were under control, Clay says he and his wife went to check on family.
"At one point we looked down the hill and you could see a football field completely underwater,” Clay said, “The bleachers were our guide of telling if the water was receding or not.”
They then went to check on Clay’s grandfather who lives nearby. The couple took life jackets with them, not knowing how deep the water would get.
After wading in chest-deep water, the two arrived at Clay’s grandfather’s home.
“He was fine, but his house was not, nobody’s was.” Clay said.
He attempted to drive to his father and his other set of grandparents who live in Kite, Kentucky, about 16 miles away. But in order to reach them he spent hours using a chainsaw to cut down trees that were blocking roadways.
“The scariest part was hearing about the multiple fatalities,” Clay said. “People were saying that there were deaths in my father and grandparents’ part of town and I had no way of knowing if it was them.”
Everyone in Clay’s family is okay, but their houses are destroyed.
“My grandparents have 8-10 foot ceilings on their first floor and it was completely full of water,” He said, “Furniture is displaced and destroyed.” Clay and McKenzie’s home only suffered from some a small amount of water leaking inside.
His great-grandfather, who is 93, was able to evacuate his home before the flooding got worse. Clay says he stayed in his car up the hill by himself for some time, waiting for another family member to get him.
“It looks like a war zone here,” he said, “This affected everybody. There’s very few people I know whose house, vehicle or lives have not been altered by this,”
Clay said they’ve been told it’ll take at least a week before power and water is restored, but he believes it will be longer.
