Greek coast guard sources on Monday dismissed the latest attempt by Ankara to show a purported ” push back ” of migrants in the eastern Aegean, hours after the neighboring country’s defense ministry posted a video on its X account.

According to the Greek side, the incident shows a standard interception and blocking of a craft attempting to approach Greek territorial waters north of the large island of Lesvos (Lesbos) Moreover, the Greek (Hellenic) coast guard said the corresponding Turkish coast guard command was duly informed about the small craft’s presence and the need to retrieve it. According to reports, the Turkish coast guard arrived at the scene shortly thereafter.

As with practically all such incidents in the wider region, foreign nationals assemble and attempt to reach various Greek islands in the eastern Aegean from the opposite Turkish shores, often “under the noses” of Turkish authorities, and mostly with the paid help of migrant smuggling gangs operating in that country and beyond.

In the X post, the Turkish ministry claimed footage from one of its military UAVs showed a Greek coast guard patrol boat “pushing a vessel (push back) transporting irregular migrants north of Lesbos”, among others. However, the post also confirms that a Turkish vessel rescued the craft’s occupants. No information was given on ages, gender and nationality of the people on board.