One of the constant requests of the Turkish side to Athens, its closure Refugee camp Lavriowhich Ankara considers a “training camp” Kurds PKKseems to be satisfied with the sloping route. His decision Ministry of Immigration and Asylum the gradual closure of the camp may be due to objective criteria and, in particular, the unsuitability of this place for further accommodation of refugees.

Notification

However, the development was started before the earthquake on February 6 in Türkiye and the normalization process Greek-Turkish relations. In particular, in December 2022 Municipality of Lavreotiki notify Ministry of Immigration a notice highlighting the risk of building collapse in the event of moderate seismic shocks. It is recalled that part of the camp was built in the late 1940s and indeed to a large extent accommodated Kurdish refugees, some of whom, of course, the Turkish state considered as terrorists. It is worth noting that the municipality of Lavreotiki over the past decade has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the poor condition of the buildings to a number of governments – indeed, the Greek state stopped funding its operation back in 2016-2017. In practice, it is this camp that has been operating for the past few years with the support and funding of various NGOs, and the state does not participate in management at all.

Athens strongly rejected the Turkish claims. However, with the decision said to have been taken because of an unsuitable meeting place, a thorn in bilateral relations has been removed.

After notifying the Municipality of Lavreotica, out of the approximately 150 refugees living in a particular camp, 100 were transferred to other accommodation structures in the Attica Basin. Currently, there are less than 50 of them left, and they are expected to be transferred to some of these structures in the near future.

It is recalled that only in the last three years of acute tension in Greek-Turkish relations, a number of high-ranking officials, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut CavusogluNational Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, public relations director Fahrettin Altun publicly and in contacts with representatives of the Greek state raised the issue of the “terrorist training camp” in Lavrion.

Athens has repeatedly denied this accusation, which Ankara has used several times, claiming that Greece supports terrorism.

However, in recent meetings held with their Turkish counterparts, Foreign Ministers Nikos Dendias, Ministry of National Defense Nikos Panayotopoulos and competent Notis Mitarakis, the question of the Lavrio camp was not discussed. Since the Greek side never agreed with the Turkish accusations, Athens did not officially comment on this event, with the exception of an administrative decision to close the facility, unsuitable for accommodating refugees.

Moratorium until September

The Turkish Minister of National Defense yesterday issued a full confirmation of the Greek-Turkish informal agreement to extend the moratorium on large-scale exercises in the Aegean Sea for the entire summer season (from June 15 to September 15). Hulusi Akar. In an interview with Anatol, Mr. Akar noted that “in the near future, we expect positive developments on some issues, such as the extension of the moratorium period, which provides for the prevention of exercises in international waters and in the airspace of the Aegean Sea. from June 15 to September 15, when there is intensive tourism.” Mr. Akar expressed hope that the “existing problems” between the two countries can be resolved “within the framework of good neighborly relations, international law, peacefully, in the spirit of alliance, dialogue and mutual respect.” He also stressed that “the positive and constructive climate that has developed since the earthquakes” must be maintained, saying that “our work and negotiations on this issue continue.”