Three people were found dead in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Çeşme, the Turkish coast guard said. Three others were rescued, and one was still
missing.
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu blamed Greece for the incident.
“Greek coast guard units battered seven migrants tonight, took their belongings, tied their hands in plastic handcuffs, and threw them to death in the sea without lifejackets and boats,” he said in a social media post alongside a video reportedly showing the rescue operation.
Speaking in the video, one of those recused says they had departed Çeşme on Tuesday for the Greek island Chios, where they stayed for two days before being beaten and returned to sea.
Greek authorities strongly denied the claims. “We don’t treat migrants or people in danger that way,” Greek coast guard spokesman Nikolaos Kokkalas told Reuters.
The Aegean Sea is a major crossing point for people seeking to reach European Union member Greece from Turkey.
An investigation by German magazine Der Spiegel last year found the Greek coast guard forcibly returning boats of migrants to Turkish waters with the apparent knowledge of EU border agency Frontex.
A 2016 deal saw Turkey agree to limit the passage of people to the EU in return for funds to support the near 4 million refugees in the country.
The agreement has been repeatedly criticized by humanitarian organizations for a failure to ensure migrants rights.
But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday the EU was ready to renew the deal, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International recently warned that EU cooperation with Turkey over issues such as migration risked coming at the cost of taking action on the country’s poor human rights record.
