Turkish-Greek top officials discuss migrants on border

ATHENS

Turkey's Ambassador to Athens Burak Ozugergin on Wednesday met Greece's Foreign Ministry Secretary General Themistoklis Demiris.

According to diplomatic sources, Ozugergin and Demiris discussed recent developments on the Turkish-Greece border and the Aegean Sea in the meeting held at the Greek Foreign Ministry.

Referring to a near collision between a Turkish and Greek Coast Guard patrol in Turkish seas in Bodrum, southwest Turkey earlier in the day, Ozugergin said Greek security forces had violated Turkish territorial waters.

He added that Greek security vessels had acted in violation of international law, and their acts could not be evaluated in the context of "innocent passage rights."

The envoy said Turkish coastal security acted in line with international law, sending off the Greek vessels.

"Turkey is one of the strongest supporters of freedom of navigation in air and sea, and it will not tolerate acts threatening its sovereignty and violating international law," Ambassador Ozugergin was quoted as saying.

Demiris expressed his concerns, saying they did not want further conflicts.

Turkey recently announced that it would no longer try to stop asylum seekers from reaching Europe.

Thousands of asylum seekers have since flocked to Turkey’s Edirne province -- bordering Greece and Bulgaria -- to make their way to Europe.

The Greek reaction to asylum seekers has been harsh, with many battered, attacked, or tear-gassed, and even killed by Greek forces.

With 3.7 million Syrian migrants in Turkey already, more than any other country in the world, and some 1 million poised across the border in Idlib, Syria, Ankara says it cannot absorb another refugee wave.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut