Evros Delta, Kalyves, Greece

Didymoteicho, Central square, Greece

Edirne, Meric bridge, Turkey

Social Conditions Violent Waters

In response to the killing of 34 Turkish soldiers in Idlib, Syria on 27 February 2020, Turkey announced they will no longer prevent refugees from crossing to European Union. As a response Greece closed the two border crossings Pazarkule-Kastanies on the north and Ipsala-Kipoi on the south and increased its border forces. Around 25 thousand people gatherd on the land borders. On 28 February 2020 Greece announced no illegal entries would be accepted. On 2 March 2020 Greece suspended the right to seek assylum for a month for refugees entering Greece, which later was extended due to COVID19 measures.

Due to the political decisions refugees strated to move towards border villages where they attempted to cross the border through passing the river. Around 5000 refugees were pushed back, many entered Greece and many did not survive1

On the 10 th of March 2020, news sources started to mention that Bulgaria opened the Ivaylovgrad Dam placed on Arda river which is an arm of Evros river and had released water downstream and floded the river. According to eighteenth-century Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius and his followers, rivers are “part of ‘arcifinious’ or ‘natural’ military frontier zones that are ‘indetermined,’ and flexible based on the application of force2. Rumours had been circulating among the border control that the river could be used as a defense strategy, which transforms the natural border into a flexible weapon. This time period from 27th of February onwards was called “the hybrid war” by many. Greek government previeving it as, Turkish government attacking their terriories with refugees instead of bullets4; and Turkish government weaponizing the refugees while Greece and European Union attacks them by altering the rivers ecology. On March 4th violence escalated in the border and shootings started. Bullets of soldiers injured seven refugees and killed Muhammad Gulzar, a Pakistani citizen. Giorgos Christides from the German newspaper “Der Spiegel” took following notes during a live streamed footage from the morning that day5.

09:02: a very large group of migrants moved along the fence. A group of heavily armed soldiers followed them along.

9:05: heavy use of tear gas coming from the Turkish side. Flocks of birds flying out in panic. More and more migrants move southwards towards Petalo.

9:09: the battle also erupted at the Greek outpost. Extensive tear gas thrown from the side of Turkey. Both police and military were on the spot.

09:19: loudspeakers from Greek side play warning: do not attempt to cross

09:20: more and more police and army vehicles and reinforcements coming to the Greek tower post. 9:21: 23 soldiers moving along the fence

9:32: Soldiers dispersed at regular intervals along the fence

9:41: Calm at checkpoint

10:00 Migrants return to gather at check point. Black smoke to the south, fire breaks out.

11:01: Greeks use water canon.

Note:

1. Dicle Ergin, Ayse: What Happened at the GreeceTurkey Border in early 2020?: A Legal Analysis, VerfBlog, 2020/9/30, https://verfassungsblog. de/what-happenedat-the-greece-turkeyborder-in-early-2020/, DOI: 10.17176/20200930220649-0.

2. Donaldson, 159, quoting Hugo Grotius, Of the Rights of War and Peace (London: Brown, Ward, Meares, 1715).

3. What we call, after Achille Mbembe, the production of necrohydrologies: where rivers become central figures in regimes of terror and the politics of death. Achille Mbembe, Necropolitics (Durham: Duke University Press, 2019).

4. “Letter to the President of the European Parliament”, November 11, 2020, available at: www. tinekestrik.eu/sites/ default/files/2020- 11/ Letter%20to%20EP_ Frontex%20maritime%20 operations%20at%20 EU%20external%20 bord.._.pdf (accessed November 2020).

5. The notes were shared with Stefanos Levidis and are quated from the phd thesis “Levidis, Stefanos. 2021. BORDER NATURES. The Environment as Weapon at the Edges of Greece. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis].

The distinctive ecology of the border is made possible by its ability to adapt to the strength and flexibility of the river, and also contributes to the creation of an ambiguous space in which many forms of violence are perpetrated against any punishment. Mixed warfare methods explicitly mobilize environmental factors. Thus, “nature” can no longer be an alibi but is directly involved in the production of death at the border.

What is the role of water in the politics of death at the border? Here river waters stand at the intersection of connection-division, and life-death3 What happened in the Evros/Meriç/Maritsa river is a product of multiple organizational technologies used to control territorial sovereignty. The main concern is the mobilization of major infrastructures: the dam and the release of water downstream would be a direct threat to the lives of asylum seekers attempting to enter the EU. If Bulgaria had opened the dam, this would have been based on its contribution to fortifying the external borders of the European fortress.

The River Summary

Thrace as a Shared Land

-In the past the region was home to a diverse population, due to being citizens of empires and they created a common culture that uniquely belongs to Thrace.

-The forced population exchange was based solely on people’s reigious identity, not considering ethnicity or spoken language, which caused many to be left on the wrong side of the river

-The decision making process on transforming Evros river into a political border was based on the flexibility of natural resources. It meant that river could act as a defense mechanism if needed.