Greek president accuses Turkish authorities of helping people smugglers.

Greek president accuses Turkish authorities of helping people smugglers. (TZ).

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said Turkey was not doing enough to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Europe and accused Turkish port officials of helping people smugglers.

"I greatly fear that Turkish people smugglers are getting support from the authorities," Pavlopoulos said in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung published on Monday.

"In particular, the port authorities act as if they don't notice anything. There are cases in which smugglers have supposedly been helped. We have evidence for this," he said.

Pavlopoulos said Greece was still prepared to contribute towards the 3 billion euros ($3.27 billion) pledged by the EU to Turkey to help care for Syrian refugees as long as Ankara fulfilled its obligations.

"Up to now Turkey has not delivered," Pavlopoulos, who is due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later on Monday, told the paper. Read the full story here.