Turkey summons Greek diplomat over fishing incident

Turkey on Wednesday summoned a Greek embassy official to the foreign ministry, a day after a man was wounded when the Greek coast guard opened fire at Turkish fishing vessels in the Aegean sea, a diplomatic source said.

“The Greek embassy undersecretary was summoned to our ministry today (Wednesday) after one of our citizens was injured” when Greek coast guard shot at two Turkish fishing vessels in the Aegean sea, the source said.

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Turkey presented a diplomatic note to the Greek side protesting the use of “disproportionate force against our fishing vessels in the Aegean waters,” said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

Turkey and Greece often trade barbs over the maritime zones of the Aegean Sea.

Ankara also regularly accuses Greek officials of illegally pushing migrants back into its territory. Athens denies the claims.

Earlier this month, Turkey said it had found 19 frozen bodies close to the Greek border. Ankara accused Greece of allowing the migrants to die in the winter cold after stripping them of their clothes and forcing them back across the border.

The UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi voiced alarm Monday at increasing violence against refugees and migrants at European borders, warning that rights abuses and illegal pushbacks across frontiers risked becoming “normalized.”

He highlighted in particular the consistent reports coming from Greece’s land and sea borders with Turkey, pointing out that the UN refugee agency UNHCR had recorded nearly 540 reported incidents of informal returns by Greece since the start of 2020.

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