Brussels, 06/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 6 February, Greece began construction of a wall at its border with Turkey in order to prevent unlawful migrants from entering its territory, Greece's Minister for Citizens' Protection Christos Papoutsis told the Greek agency, ANA, on Monday, cited by AFP. Papoutsis, who was visiting the site, explained that the wall was of great practical and symbolic value to discourage illegal migration and to send the message that one cannot enter Greece as one pleases. He also spoke of Greco-Turkish cooperation in the building of the wall, which was announced in January 2011 but coldly received at the time by the European Commission. Greece, which is regularly under fire of criticism from its European counterparts, is today one of the main entry routes to the EU for illegal migrants, who enter Greece from Turkey, and who then continue into the other member states. In January 2011, the Commission had said that the measure was not a good answer to the problem of illegal immigration. Several member states, like France, had however backed the project. (SP/transl.jl)