Turkey accuses handcuffed migrants of being thrown into the sea

Turkey has accused Greek coastguards of handcuffing at least three migrants and throwing them into the sea, while another three have been rescued, Greek agents have denied.

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“Last night the Greek Coast Guard defeated seven migrants and then tied their hands with plastic handkerchiefs and killed them, without life jackets or lifeboats, before dropping them into the sea,” Turkish Interior Minister Saleman Soylu said. Twitter.

The Turkish Coast Guard said they had rescued three people and found three bodies in the Aegean Sea. “The search continues to find the last missing person,” they said in a statement.

Two days after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey, Mr Soyu shared a video of Greek authorities arresting a group of immigrants on the island of Chios on Thursday, claiming he was a survivor.

“They took our phones and our money, then beat us. We were a group of seven people. They kicked us (into the sea),” he said in basic Turkish.

The second man pictured as an immigrant appears in the video with a plastic cable tie around his wrist.

The AFP has not been able to independently substantiate these claims.

The Greek Coast Guard on Friday condemned the “classification” and threw the migrants into the sea. “This is fake news, part of Turkey’s ongoing efforts to smear Greece’s image,” they said.

There have been numerous cases of illegal return of immigrants trying to reach Greece from Turkey, Athens has denied.

Ankara has alleged that Greek forces smashed inflatable boats with immigrants to prevent them from advancing.

The Aegean Sea is one of the main routes for smugglers to Europe.

Millions of people fleeing the conflict, especially in the Middle East, Turkey and the EU, signed the controversial agreement in 2016, after arriving in 2015, which drastically reduced the number of passages.