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Greek, Turkish PMs to discuss border fence: sources

06 January 2011 21:07 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is to visit Turkey for the third Conference of Turkish Ambassadors in the northeastern Anatolian province of Erzurum on Friday, amid debates over Greece’s plan to build a fence along part of its border with Turkey to stop illegal immigrants, Turkish sources told Xinhua on Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

The Greek prime minister and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are expected to discuss Greek initiative to block 12.5 km of its border with Turkey to stem illegal immigration into the European Union (EU).

Greece has long complained to Turkey about the border security, since the area has become the main route into Greece for migrants from Africa and Asia.

Athens defends the plan saying that more than 100,000 illegal immigrants arrived in the country in 2010, most of whom crossed the Evros River that separates Greece and Turkey.

The Turkish authorities said that taking measures to protect the borders is a decision within Greece’s sovereignty, however, they dismiss the claims of Athens that Turkey fails to block human trafficking through its borders.

"Turkey has taken important steps on human trafficking. Thousands of immigrants trying to cross via Turkey were caught. Those are results of measures taken and the international cooperation of Turkey," Selcuk Unal, spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry told NTV News Channel on Monday.