ATHENS – United States Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt repeated that Washington backs Greece as it tries to deal with a rekindled crisis after Turkey abruptly broke a European Union 2016 swap deal, opening its borders and urging thousands to cross over.

The United States supports “Greece’s sovereign right to protect its border, work to de-escalate tensions and end provocative acts and false claims in social media,” Pyatt tweeted as tension remained at the northern border along the Evros River.

That came after a meeting with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in which Pyatt repeated US assurances supporting a decision by Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis to close the border after the suspension of asylum applications.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had the refugees and migrants bused to the border after the deaths of 33 Turkish soldiers in an area of northern Syria they had invaded as he said that could lead to more Syrians seeking refuge in his country which is already holding some 3.2 million of them, along with 2.2 million from other countries.

month in support of the country’s decision to protect its northeastern land border with Turkey against the influx of thousands of refugees and migrants.

“The United States recognizes Greece’s right to enforce its laws along its borders,” a State Department official had said earlier this month in response to a question from Hellas Journal, a Greek-language network based in New York after the border standoff began.