The Turkey Turkey Shoot

Because the area consists of small, scattered villages, the police presence is non-existant. The few local officers deal with day-to-day incidents, traffic accidents, minor thefts and the like. Although extra troops have been sent to the area, Turkey’s main security concern is from heavily armed PKK guerillas in the southeast part of the country. The security forces are concentrated in that area.

The trouble is refugees have rights under Turkish law. Registered refugees can freely travel within the countries and the various authorities have no right to tell them where to go or where to stay. Ah, thank goodness for the European Union! Turkey is planning to address the issue by changing the rules but opponents complain that the new regulations would restrict human rights. So, Turkey must surrender its citizens and sovereignty as a result.

Once migrants are at sea, attempting to halt their progress is difficult and risky. Refugee boats set to sail in columns, simultaneously from many points. At the same time it is possible to see 30-40 boats afloat at once They move fast, they take risks, they do not stop when they are warned.

There were originally three coast guard boats in the area, deployed to stop smuggling, deal with the pollution caused by passing ships and other routine jobs. After the migrants arrived, Turkey sent extra boats, boosting numbers to 10 in the Küçükkuyu area. Once a coast guard boat stops a migrant dinghy, it takes at least an hour to get refugees on board and return them to the port. After that the refugees are registered, delivered to the local authorities and dispatched to a refugee camp. While all this is happening, other boat loads reach Greece.

Source: Euro News

Turkish officers also are cautious about stopping the overloaded vessels because capsizing them with children, and non-swimmer aboard could be deadly. Rescuing a boatload from the water takes around half-an hour, easily enough time for many to drown.
Turkey has spent five billion dollars since 2012 on the migrant crisis.