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Greek Immigration Minister Notis Mitarachi said: “The Greek coast guard recorded several incidents on Friday in which the coast guard and the Turkish fleet escorted migrant boats to the borders of Europe, in an attempt to scale with Greece.”
Mitarachi added in a recorded statement: “There is no doubt that these immigrants came from Turkish shores and since Turkey supported them, they were not in danger.”
He continued: “We call on Turkey to desist from this unjustified provocation.”
Greece and Turkey differ on a number of issues, including the Mediterranean’s energy resources. Tensions escalated between the two NATO members last year when thousands of asylum seekers in Turkey tried to storm the Greek land border.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said: “It is not aware of the incident, while the Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”
Turkey accused Greece of “friction” with its ships in the eastern Mediterranean and of “provocative actions”.
The Greek coast guard said: “In one of these incidents, a ship carrying migrants attempted to enter Greek territorial waters on Friday, accompanied by a Turkish coast guard ship. In another incident, two Turkish ships attempted to push a ship carrying immigrants to Greece. waters “.
He added: “In a third incident off the island of Lesbos, a Turkish coast guard ship entered Greek territorial waters and came into contact with a Greek guard ship.”
About a million asylum seekers, mostly Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, crossed by boat to Greece from Turkey in 2015 at the start of the migration crisis in Europe and a year later, the European Union reached an agreement with Ankara to stop the flow. of migrants, and the number fell dramatically.
