The Defense Ministry on Tuesday shared footage recorded during a reconnaissance and surveillance drone flight of the navy that captured Greek coast guard elements pushing back migrants into Turkish waters.
It was detected that a boat of the Greek coast guard, close to the eastern shore of Samos (Sisam) island, pushed irregular migrants on their dinghy toward the west of Aydın province’s Yılancı Burnu, according to a statement of the ministry on social media.
“Subsequently, a civilian boat in the area tied the irregular migrant boats to a civilian boat, towed them eastward and released them into our territorial waters west of Yılancı Burnu. The irregular migrants in the rubber boat were rescued by a Turkish coast guard boat that arrived in the area,” it said.
Many boatloads of migrants attempt to make the dangerous sea crossing to reach the Greek islands from the Turkish coast, hoping to make their way to prosperous European Union countries eventually.
Others attempt to enter Greece by crossing the Maritsa (Meriç) River that runs along the land border between the two countries.
While many make it to the EU, many others perish at sea or are pushed back by Greece into Turkish waters in violation of international law.
Athens’ illegal practice has been documented by Türkiye, international human rights groups and charities on many occasions, as well as in accounts of migrants intercepted in the Aegean or land borders.
Athens has strongly denied such so-called “pushbacks,” arguing that its coast guard has saved hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa crossing in small boats from Türkiye.
Greece says it needs to protect its borders, which are also those of the EU, from mass illegal immigration. It has stepped up patrols in the Aegean Sea with the help of the European Border Surveillance Agency, Frontex.
