The Greek government has claimed that a widely spread video claiming to show a migrant fatally wounded along the countries border is “fake news.”
Government spokesman Stelios Petsas commented on the footage, which was released by BBC World Service journalist Mughira Al Sharif on Monday, stating on social media platform Twitter that the alleged killing of a Syrian refugee was Turkish propaganda.
“Video showing fatality on Greek-Turkish border is fake news. We call upon everyone to use caution when reporting news that furthers Turkish propaganda,” Petsas said.
The footage claims that the man in the video is a Syrian asylum seeker named Ahmed Abu Emad who is originally from the city of Aleppo. Mr Al Sharif went on to state that the incident occurred on Monday morning at 9:07 am and the Syrian died after being shot in the throat. The true facts of the case have yet to emerge.
The footage comes as tensions remain high along the land border between Turkey and Greece after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the country would be opening the gates to any and all asylum seekers and migrants who wished to travel to Europe on Thursday.
Since Thursday, there has been a huge surge of asylum seekers heading toward Greece, with Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu claiming on Sunday that 100,577 migrants had left Turkey to head for Europe.
President Erdogan confirmed initial reports that the border was open for asylum seekers on Saturday saying, “We will not close the gates to refugees,” and added, “The European Union has to keep its promises.”
A video released by the Greek coastguard on Monday also claimed to show a migrant boat being escorted to Greece by a Turkish patrol craft. If proven true, the footage could add credence to claims that migrants travelling from the Turkish interior to the border with Germany are being assisted by the Turkish state railways and long-distance buses.
In response to the allegations, the Greek government released a statement saying, “Turkey, instead of curbing migrant and refugee smuggling networks, has become a smuggler itself.”
Clashes between migrants and Greek border guards have also occurred over the last several days, with migrants accused of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at border officials.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com
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