Why is the border between Turkey and Greece a river of death? The border between Greece and Turkey is a focal point. The river Evros is a death zone. The river has become a death river because of the many refugees who want to flee from Turkey to Greece. What is happening on the border between Greece and Turkey? A documentary about a border region that has turned into a death zone.

Dutch journalist Bram Vermeulen travels in four episodes along the Turkish border, where new power relations are being established around the Mediterranean. New orientations and developments are taking place, with enormous consequences for the people who live there. Vermeulen travels to the border areas of Greece, Cyprus, Syria and Iraq in search of the real borders with their neighbours. Four borders, four stories about life on both sides of the border. In this episode our journalist travels to the border between Greece and Turkey.

The border between Greece and Turkey is not only the border between two countries. It marks the division between rich Europe and a world of poverty, war and violence. No wonder that this is the gateway to paradise for many migrants. The border is literally and figuratively fluid, because hundreds of people die every year in the river that separates Turkey from Greece. They try to reach Europe, paradise.

The inhabitants of the border region are watching the flow of refugees. It reminds them of their own history. When the Ottoman Empire disintegrated after the First World War, the Greeks and Turks who lived on the wrong side of the new border were simply expelled. For them too, the border had become an insurmountable barrier. The border police did everything possible to stop the flow of refugees, and with European money a fence was erected at the border. The Turks, who are still not allowed to belong to the European Union, are to act as gatekeepers on their side. And the refugees? They will continue to try to make their dream - to reach Europe - come true. No fence will ever be high enough to nip the hope of a better life in the bud.

Original title: Langs de Grenzen van Turkije: Poort naar Europa: Greece (1/4)

Presented by: Bram Vermeulen
Director: Stefanie de Brouwer, Doke Roman
Camera: Erik van Empel, Jacko van 't Hof
Sound: Bert van den Dungen, Rik Meier
Production: Nellie Kramer
Editor: Obbe verwer

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