Greek coast guard violates Turkish waters while pursuing migrant boat near Bodrum

A Greek coast guard vessel violated Turkish territorial waters near the coastal town of Bodrum on Sept. 20, while chasing a rubber boat carrying migrants.

The incident occurred off the shores of the Akyarlar neighborhood, as the Greek vessel followed the migrant boat, which managed to reach the Turkish coastline before the Greek team retreated to their waters.

The chase was captured on a mobile phone, showing the Greek coast guard pursuing the migrant boat before turning back. One of the migrants reportedly jumped from the boat and fled into a nearby wooded area.

Turkish coast guard responds to Greek incursion

Following the breach, Türkiye’s Coast Guard Command issued a statement acknowledging the incident. Some news and video recordings were shared by media outlets and social media accounts stating that “there was a chase between a Greek Coast Guard boat and a fast boat with 1 person on board and during this chase, the Greek Coast Guard boat violated our territorial waters,” the statement read.

On Sept. 20, upon receiving a report from 112 emergency call center that ‘a rubber boat landed in Bodrum Akyarlar Meteor Bay and 1 person escaped to the forest area’, two coast guard boats (KB-35, KB-114) were immediately dispatched to the scene and the report was forwarded to Bodrum District Gendarmerie Command.

Our deployed coast guard elements immediately arrived at the scene of the incident and it was determined that the Greek coast guard element quickly returned to their territorial waters.

Search operations are continuing in order to find the person who escaped to the forest area and is considered to be a migrant smuggler.

Turkish Coast Guard Command

Pushbacks by Greek coast guard

Smuggling gangs frequently attempt to transport migrants across the shallow waters of the river known as Maritsa in Greek and Meriç in Turkish from Türkiye to Greece, especially during the summer drought. To combat illegal crossings, Greece is currently building a fence along this border.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, 3,168 people have made this journey from Türkiye to Greece as of July 14 this year.

Relations between Türkiye and Greece are often strained, with the Turkish coast guard accusing Greece of mistreating migrants.

Additionally, migrant charities and human rights organizations have accused the Greek coast guard and police of unlawfully preventing migrants from seeking asylum while crossing Turkish waters.

Greece has vehemently denied these allegations, asserting that its border forces have rescued hundreds of thousands of migrants from sinking boats.