ANKARA, Turkey (AP) 鈥� Turkey and Greece on Monday exchanged more over 92 who were found stripped naked by Greek authorities at the two countries鈥� joint border, a day after the United Nations called for an investigation into the incident.
Greek migration minister Notis Mitarachi on Saturday of the naked migrants, some with bodily harm, accusing Turkey of pushing them into Greece and stripping them naked before doing so. The claim prompted Fahrettin Altun, the communications director of Turkey鈥檚 president, to accuse Greece of engaging in 鈥� .鈥�
On Monday, Turkey鈥檚 foreign minister again rejected the allegation and accused Athens of 鈥渟hameless and reckless鈥� behavior. He also took aim at European Union nations, accusing them of encouraging EU-member Greece to 鈥渟lander鈥� Turkey.
The Greek government鈥檚 spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou, meanwhile, charged that Turkey was 鈥渃ontinuing to openly instrumentalize migrants and even with unprecedented and unthinkable practices of barbarism.鈥�
The exchange of accusations comes at a time when is running high, with the two engaging in mutual accusations of airspace violations and Turkey accusing Greece of militarizing islands in the Aegean Sea in violation of international treaties and threatening possible military action.
鈥淭o be able to appear right even when you are in the wrong like Greece - you need to be shameless and reckless. It鈥檚 only Greece that can achieve this,鈥� Cavusoglu said at a news conference at the end of meeting in Istanbul of the foreign ministers of Turkic states.
鈥淚t is natural that Greece ... attempts to slander Turkey as its crimes increases,鈥� Cavusoglu said. 鈥淯nfortunately, there are European Union member countries who want to believe this, who want to accept everything that Greece says as true ... This is what encourages Greece.鈥�
that police officers found the migrants stark naked on Friday, 鈥渟ome with bodily injuries.鈥� They had entered the country using plastic boats to cross the Evros River 鈥� known as Meric in Turkey 鈥� which forms a border between the two countries.
鈥淭his inhuman behavior is a disgrace to civilization, and the Turkish leadership, instead of blaming others for what is happening on its territory, should investigate the incident, punish those directly involved and honor its obligations under its Joint Declaration with the EU,鈥� the Greek government spokesman said in reference to a 2016 deal to stem the arrival of refugees.
Turkey regularly accuses Greece of violently pushing back migrants entering the country by land and sea. Turkey鈥檚 coast guard frequently shares videos of such pushbacks.
Greece accuses Turkey, which hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, of 鈥減ushing forward鈥� migrants to put pressure on the EU.
The U.N. refugee agency said it was 鈥渄eeply distressed by the shocking reports,鈥� condemning the 鈥渄egrading treatment鈥� and calling for an investigation.
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Derek Gatopoulos contributed to this report from Athens, Greece.
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Suzan Fraser, The Associated Press
