Greece has accused Turkey of trying to help migrant boats in the Aegean Sea to reach Europe. The Greek coast guard claimed that in one incident, two Turkish patrol vessels "tried to push" a migrant dinghy into Greek territory.
The allegations against the Greek coast guard come as Greece accuses Turkey of aiding human traffickers move migrants and refugees to Greece.
German soldiers have filed reports saying that they had repeatedly observed migrant boats in the Mediterranean being pushed back into Turkish waters. The German dpa news agency said it had information chronicling at least three such instances in June 2020 alone.
The Legal Centre Lesvos, a legal charity registered in Greece and operating on the island of Lesbos, has just released a report in which it has documented allegations of illegal push-backs of migrants by the Greek authorities in the Aegean Sea.
In the early hours of Monday morning, the Turkish coast guard reported that it had rescued 35 migrants after their boat began taking on water in the Aegean Sea. Searches continue for four people reported missing from the boat.
The EU foreign minister has said that Europe is determined to protect its external borders. Josep Borrell was on a visit to Greece, which accused its neighbor Turkey of encouraging a new surge of migrants into Europe.
An investigation carried out by German news magazine "Der Spiegel," German TV show "Report Mainz" and Netherlands-based media non-profit organization "Lighthouse Reports" claims that Greek Coast Guard officers intercept migrant boats coming from Turkey and send them back to Turkey in unseaworthy life rafts.
36 migrants from Iran and Afghanistan, traveling from Turkey, were rescued off the coast of Lesbos on Sunday. The migrants were taken to Petra port on the island where they were tested for the novel coronavirus, and then taken into quarantine.
The Turkish president has ordered his coast guard to prevent migrants and refugees from crossing the Aegean Sea. Erdogan has triggered a migrant crisis at the Greek border by falsely informing people the border was open.
Ankara says Greek forces were "hitting" and "bullying" refugees attempting to make the crossing. President Erdogan is set to travel to Brussels to discuss the crisis at the Turkish-Greek border.
In July, the Turkish authorities in Istanbul ordered Syrian refugees who were not registered in Istanbul to leave the city by August 20 and return to the provinces where they registered. Now, that deadline has been extended until the end of October. However, there are reports of many Syrians being forcibly removed and sent back to Syria.
The Turkish coast guard said Monday that they rescued 69 migrants just off the west Turkish coast, among them were 36 children.