UPDATE - Greek police, border units kill 1 asylum seeker

UPDATES WITH QUOTE FROM ASYLUM SEEKER; CHANGES BY-LINE; ADDS DETAILS; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Hakan Mehmet Sahin and Cihan Demirci

EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) - Greek police and border units on Wednesday opened fire on asylum seekers trying to enter the country from northwestern Turkey, killing one and injuring five others, according to Turkish officials.

“Greek police and border units opened fire on the asylum seekers in the region between the Kastanies Border Gate and the Pazarkule Border Gate using sound, fog, and gas bombs, and rubber and metal bullets," said the governor's office of Turkey's Edirne border province in a statement.

Six men were injured by metal bullets, including three in the feet, one in the groin area, one in the chest, and one in the head, added the statement.

The one wounded in the chest area was taken to the Trakya University Medical School Hospital by ambulance, where he died while doctors tried to save him, it added.

Greek forces firing live bullets indiscriminately “disregarded the asylum seekers' 'right to life',” said the statement.

Adel Jaber, an Iranian asylum seeker, said many of his friends were injured by Greek forces who initially used gas bombs and later live ammunition.

The injured asylum seekers have been under medical treatment at the hospital, said Turkish officials.

Last week, Turkish officials announced that they would no longer try to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe.

Since then, thousands of asylum seekers have flocked to Edirne, along the borders with Greece and Bulgaria, to make their way into Europe.

The decision was made after 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred by Assad regime forces in Idlib, northwestern Syrian last week.

The Turkish soldiers were working to protect local civilians under a 2018 deal with Russia under which acts of aggression are prohibited in the region.

Turkey, which already hosts some 3.7 million Syrian migrants, more than any country in the world, says it cannot absorb another refugee wave.

Ankara has repeatedly complained that Europe has failed to keep its promises under the 2016 EU-Turkey refugee deal to help migrants and stem further migrant waves.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur and Seda Sevencan in Ankara.