UPDATES EDIRNE GOVERNORSHIP'S STATEMENT, ADDS REMARKS FROM COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER
By Kemal Karadag and Hakan Mehmet Sahin
ANKARA/EDIRNE, Turkiye (AA) - At least 12 irregular migrants were found frozen to death in northwestern Turkiye after they were pushed back from neighboring Greece, the Turkish interior minister said on Wednesday.
Twelve of 22 migrants "pushed back" by Greek border forces and stripped of their clothes and shoes "have frozen to death," Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter.
The EU "is remediless, weak and void of humane feelings," said Soylu, adding that while Greek forces acted as a "thug" against people who had been made "victims," they were tolerant towards members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, which was behind a 2016 defeated coup in Turkiye.
Thousands of the terror group's members fled to Greece after the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, which was orchestrated by FETO and its ringleader Fetullah Gulen. It left 251 people martyred and 2,734 injured.
Soylu shared several photos of the site where the irregular migrants were found, with the victims blurred.
UPDATE
The governor's office of the northwestern Edirne province said the bodies were found in the Pasakoy village of Ipsala District, less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Greek border.
One of the 12 migrants had been found alive by search and rescue teams, but later died at the hospital, said the governor's office.
"After the search and rescue efforts carried out in the region, the dead bodies of two more migrants were found," it added in a statement.
In an earlier statement, it had said that an investigation has been launched into the incident.
Turkiye's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun condemned the incident.
"This heartlessness is happening before the eyes of the entire world," Altun said on Twitter.
Noting that Greece was "not alone in this crime," Altun added: "The Western world is not telling Greece to stop, on the contrary, it is encouraging it."
"It may be bodies that have frozen, but it is the West's humanity that has died," he added.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran also took to Twitter to condemn the incident.
"#Turkiye has repeatedly warned the international community about dangerous push-backs of refugees by Greek coastal authorities," Kiran said.
"These push-backs yield especially tragic results in times when the temperature is so low. #Greece must immediately put an end to such illegal actions!"
Turkiye has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
Turkiye and international human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece's illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable people, including women and children.