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Sunday, May. 20, 2012 |  Syndicate content

Greece stepping up security on border with Turkey

Page last updated at 08:44 GMT, Monday, February 6, 2012 - 13:44 EST

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Associated Press:

Greek Civil Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis checks part of a border fence aimed at stemming illegal immigration,...
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Greece announced on Monday that it will soon begin building a 6-mile-long (10-kilometer-long) fence topped with razor wire on its border with Turkey to deter illegal immigrants.

Thousands of illegal immigrants cross from Turkey into Greece at this point each year, often traveling from there to other parts of Europe.

Greek Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis went to the border village of Kantanies on Monday to announce that work on the 13-foot-tall (4-meter-tall) fence will start next month and is expected to be finished by September at a cost of more than euro3 million ($4 million). It will stretch from Kastanies to the Greek village of Nea Vyssa, near the northeastern town of Orestiada.

"This is an opportunity for us to send a clear message ... to all the EU that Greece is fully compliant with its border commitments," Papoutsis told reporters. "Traffickers should know that this route will be closed to them. Their life is about to get much harder."

Read the whole story: Associated Press

Greece-World News