ATHENS/ANKARA (Reuters) – Greece’s coast guard denied accusations by the Turkish defence ministry on Monday that it had pushed back migrants off the island of Lesbos into Turkish territory.
Earlier, Turkey’s defence ministry uploaded a drone video on plaftform X showing a Greek coast guard operation, adding a Greek vessel pushes a boat carrying migrants off the north of Lesbos island and into Turkish territorial waters.
“Our coast guard command was immediately informed and the immigrants in question were rescued by the coast guard boat that arrived in the area,” the Turkish Defence Ministry said on X.
A senior Greek coast guard official responded that: “This is in no way a pushback, it is detection and prevention of illegal entry into Greek territorial waters.”
Greece, one of the gateways into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, has been accused by aid groups of forcibly ejecting migrants at its sea and land borders, also known as “pushbacks,” an illegal practice.
Greece and Turkey, NATO allies, have long been at odds over issues including where their continental shelves start and end, energy resources, flights over the Aegean Sea, and the ethnically partitioned island of Cyprus.
The latest incident comes two days after the 50th anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of part of the island after a brief Greek-inspired coup.
Greek Cypriots want reunification as a federation. Turkish Cypriots want a two-state settlement.
The situation remains an emotional trigger for both countries, frustrating Ankara’s ambitions of joining the European Union, and hindering energy potential in the east Mediterranean because of overlapping claims.
In 2023, the two neighbours agreed to revamp their relationship, establishing a roadmap to usher in a new era of closer ties.
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Yannis Souliotis in Athens and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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