Turkish authorities have claimed to have rescued about 260 migrants in Aegean waters over the past day and stressed that «many were pushed illegally» by Greece into its territorial waters.
The Turkish Coast Guard has indicated that in a first incident 39 people were rescued in an inflatable boat near the coast of Ayvacik, while another 54 people were rescued hours later in the same area.
Likewise, 88 irregular migrants were rescued off the coast of Mugla, in addition to 77 others off the province of Marmaris, where two people were also arrested for allegedly belonging to a human trafficking network.
The Turkish Coast Guard added that another eleven people were rescued off Datca, while stressing that all of them were taken to port and handed over to the authorities, as reported by the Turkish state news agency Anatolia.
Turkey accuses Athens of illegally expelling vessels arriving from Turkish shores from its waters. Tension has been rising over the past few months in the eastern Mediterranean area as Greece and Turkey embark on a maritime dispute over hydrocarbon exploration in the area. The two countries are also at loggerheads over Cyprus.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
