AEGEAN SEA

The number of irregular migrants caught in Turkey's seas and migrant movement have increased since the start of the year this year compared to the same period of 2021, data from the country's Coast Guard have shown.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Feb. 16 attended NATO meetings in Brussels amid a crisis between the Alliance and Russia over the latter's military build-up in eastern Ukraine. Akar also had a bilateral meeting with his Greek counterpart after a fresh debate between the two neighbors over the status of the Aegean islands.

Greece's parliament on Tuesday approved a 3 billion euro ($3.4 billion) agreement for three new French-made frigates that defense officials say are vital for addressing ongoing tensions with neighboring Turkey.

Senior officials from Turkey and Greece will hold the 64th round of exploratory talks on Feb. 22 in Athens, a dialogue mechanism that has been running since the early 2000s, amid an ongoing quarrel over the latter's continued efforts of the armament of the islands that must be kept demilitarized according to international law.

Turkey has accused Greece of pushing back migrants through inhuman ways as a state policy and the European Union of turning a blind eye to this blatant violation of human rights after 19 migrants froze to death after being pushed back by Greek authorities in the past weeks.

The Turkish Coast Guard last year rescued 23,676 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea and 15,794 of them were pushed back by Greek authorities into Turkish waters.

In 2021, a total of 619 pushback incidents took place, according to data from the Turkish Coast Guard.

Turkish security forces have recovered the bodies of seven more irregular migrants, who froze to death after Greek border guards pushed them back, bringing the number of the fatalities to 19.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said the bodies of 12 irregular migrants were found near the İpsala border crossing between Turkey and Greece without shoes and stripped of their clothes.

Turkey's Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has slammed Greek authorities, claiming that the Greek has thrown three migrants into the Aegean Sea, which resulted in one of the victims' death.

Soylu said on Twitter that two of the migrants were rescued while the other one had died following an incident off the coast of the Çeşme district in Turkey's İzmir province.

Turkish authorities have imposed a total fine of 7.6 million Turkish Liras ($568.000) on 83 companies and institutions for failing to fulfill their environmental commitments and polluting the Gediz River in the Aegean province of Manisa.

The Turkish Coast Guard has rescued dozens of irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea who were pushed back to Turkish territorial waters by Greece.

Acting on information that there were migrants on a dinghy off the coast of the Dikili district of the province of İzmir, units launched an operation and rescued 24 people who were pushed back to the Turkish waters by Greek authorities.