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Migrants: Turkey and Greece trade accusations on Aegean

Athens decries 'provocations', Ankara 'illegal pushbacks'

02 April, 15:39
(ANSA) - ISTANBUL, APR 2 - Greece and Turkey are once again trading accusations over migrant crossings in the Aegean Sea.

The Greek migration minister on Friday morning decried "various incidents in which the Turkish coast guard accompanied migrant boats to the European border, in an attempt to provoke an escalation with Greece". In a statement, Greek authorities also accused a Turkish watercraft of having made "dangerous maneuvers" near the island of Lesbo, disturbing Greek naval patrols. In recent days the Greek government reiterated its request that the Turkish government authorise the sending back of 1,450 migrants to whom the right to asylum was denied in Greece, based on the 2016 accord with the EU. For its part, in recent hours Turkey newly accused Greece of forced pushbacks of rubber dinghies of migrants, in violation of international law.

The Turkish coast guard said it rescued 37 people off the coast of Izmir, who were allegedly sent back by border patrols to oversee the Greek islands. The Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in some of these episodes of pushbacks, some of the migrants lost their lives at sea. (ANSA).

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