Turkey summons Greek diplomat over fishing incident

ANKARA

Turkey on on Feb. 23 summoned a Greek embassy official to the foreign ministry, a day after a man was wounded when the Greek coast guard opened fire at Turkish fishing vessels in the Aegean sea, a diplomatic source said.

"The Greek embassy undersecretary was summoned to our ministry today (Wednesday) after one of our citizens was injured" when Greek coast guard shot at two Turkish fishing vessels in the Aegean sea, the source said.

Turkey presented a diplomatic note to the Greek side protesting the use of "disproportionate force against our fishing vessels in the Aegean waters," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

Ankara also regularly accuses Greek officials of illegally pushing migrants back into its territory. Athens denies the claims.
Earlier this month, Turkey said it had found 19 frozen bodies close to the Greek border. Ankara accused Greece of allowing the migrants to die in the winter cold after stripping them of their clothes and forcing them back across the border.

The U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi voiced alarm Monday at increasing violence against refugees and migrants at European borders, warning that rights abuses and illegal pushbacks across frontiers risked becoming "normalized".