Turkey

Just last week we reported about Greece deporting migrants to Turkey as part of a mutual deal with the EU. Now, nearly a week later, the number of migrants has dropped severely. According to a report from DW.com: The number of irregular migrants making the dangerous boat journey from Turkey to Greece plunged to 78 in the past 24 hours, the Greek refugee crisis committee said Saturday. Closed borders and the prospect of migrants being sent back to Turkey appears to be stemming the flow.

Submitted by Uzay Bulut via The Gatestone Institute,

• Professional criminals convince parents that their daughters are going to a better life in Turkey. The parents are given 2000-5000 Turkish liras ($700-$1700) as a "bride price" -- an enormous sum for a poor Syrian family.

Submitted by Mike "Mish" Shedlock of Mishtalk

Italy’s Interior minister Angelino Alfano warns the refugee “system is at risk of collapse” following an 80 per cent spike in the number of arrivals to Italy across the central Mediterranean Sea in the first quarter of this year compared to 2015.

Alfano fears that Syrians headed for Turkey will inetead head for Libya for an even more hazardous Mediterranean Sea crossing to Italy.

As a part of a new EU plan aimed at reducing the number of refugees flowing into Europe, Greece has begun sending migrants back to Turkey.  Greek border agents put 135 migrants on a ferry back to Turkey, much to the anger of Turkish authorities. USAToday explains: Human rights groups have been highly critical of the plan, saying Turkey, which already hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees, can not adequately care for the migrants. “This is the first day of a very difficult time for refugee rights.

Turkey are to begin military operations against the Republic of Armenia – just a century after they attempted to wipe the country off the face of the earth in the brutal killing of 1.5 million of its citizens in what is known today as the Armenian Genocide.  According to Russian intelligence sources Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has voiced concerns that the 3 million population nation of Armenia has become the “greatest threat to world peace”, and has vowed to “do something about it”.