Turkey accused the Greek coast guard on Friday of killing at least three migrants by throwing them into the sea with their hands shackled, claiming that it saved three others, accusations that Greek agents “categorically” refuted.

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Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said: “Last night, the Greek coast guard beat seven migrants, then stripped them of their property before tying their hands with plastic handcuffs and throwing them into the sea, without life jackets or life boats, leaving them to death. Twitter.

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

Mr. Soylu also shared a video clip in which a man presented as a survivor claims that the Greek authorities have arrested the group of migrants he was a part of on Thursday on the island of Chios, two days after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey.

They took our phones and money and hit us. We were a group of seven. They paid us [à la mer] He said in a primitive Turkish language.

Another man, portrayed as an immigrant, appears in this video with a plastic strap around his wrists.

Agence France-Presse was unable to independently verify these allegations.

On Friday, the Greek coastguard denied “categorically” that it had bound the migrants’ hands and dumped them at sea. “This is false news, and it is part of Turkey’s ongoing efforts to tarnish the image” of Greece, they said.

The latter has been accused on several occasions of returning migrants trying to reach Greece illegally from Turkey, charges that Athens has rejected.

In particular, Ankara accuses Greek forces of blowing up inflatable boats with migrants on board to prevent them from advancing.

The Aegean Sea is one of the main routes for migrants to travel illegally to Europe.

After an influx of several hundred thousand people in 2015, fleeing conflicts in particular in the Middle East, Turkey and the European Union signed a controversial agreement in 2016 that significantly reduced the number of corridors.