The protection of the country’s borders is carried out in accordance with international, European Union and national law, with full respect for fundamental rights and human dignity, according to sources at the Ministry of Citizen Protection, in response to a BBC report stating that mercenaries, acting on police orders, were pushing back refugees and migrants at the Greek land border towards Türkiye.

Ankara should be “more cautious when referring to Greece,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday, following claims from the Turkish Foreign Ministry over the weekend that Greek authorities have pushed back tens of thousands of migrants trying to cross the Aegean Sea into Europe this year.