AEGEAN SEA

A first Syrians arrived in Germany from Istanbul April 4, while a first group of migrants arrived in Turkey from Greece on the same day under an EU-Turkey migrant deal aimed at stopping the influx of refugees into Europe.

Turkey's nationalist opposition leader has severely rebuked the United States and in particular the U.S. embassy in Ankara for "escalating fears" by releasing security warnings after terrorist attacks in Turkey, while questioning the warnings' timing. 

Turkey vehemently rejected accusations by Amnesty International that it was forcibly returning Syrian refugees to the conflict-torn country on April 2, as Ankara prepares to take back, under an EU deal, Syrians who traveled illegally to Greece.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara posted a travel restriction on its website on April 1 over security concerns in several cities, including ?zmir and Mu?la by the Aegean Sea, along with others in the east and southeast.

A total of 18 people were detained on March 29 as police from the western province of ?zmir carried out simultaneous operations in five different provinces against a suspected web of human trafficking organizations.

The situation on the refugee crisis in Greece is dire and is expected to deteriorate even further, according to the Hellenic Union of Coastguard Officers.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Mardas expressed the difficulty of guarding Greece’s sea borders on Sunday morning speaking to SKAI TV channel.

The Turkish villagers had grown used to hearing the smugglers arrive in the dead of night, speeding through the narrow streets in minibuses packed with Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans headed for the rocky coves nearby.

The Turkish villagers had grown used to hearing the smugglers arrive in the dead of night, speeding through the narrow streets in minibuses packed with Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans headed for the rocky coves nearby.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras expressed his discontent to NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg regarding the refugee flows to Greece during a phone contact. According to sources, Tsipras told the head of NATO that the numbers of refugees crossing onto the Greek islands had not been curbed by the presence of NATO ships in the Aegean Sea.