Twenty-five irregular migrants attempting to cross the Aegean Sea were rescued by Turkish Coast Guard teams off the coast of Karaburun district in İzmir province, authorities announced on Thursday.

According to a statement released on the Coast Guard Command’s official website, teams were dispatched to the area after receiving information that a group of migrants was stranded at sea. Two Coast Guard Boats, KB-117 and KB-41, were immediately deployed to the scene.

The statement said the migrants were found aboard a fiber-hulled rubber boat that had been pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces, a practice Türkiye has repeatedly condemned as a violation of international law and human rights.

The rescued migrants were brought safely to shore, where they were provided with food, water, and medical assistance before being transferred to the provincial migration authority for processing.

Turkish officials have long criticized Greece’s pushback practices in the Aegean Sea, accusing Athens of endangering the lives of migrants by abandoning them at sea in unsafe conditions. International humanitarian organizations have similarly documented multiple incidents of Greek authorities forcibly returning migrants to Turkish waters.

The latest rescue operation highlights the continuing humanitarian challenges in the Aegean region, where thousands of migrants and asylum seekers risk their lives each year attempting to reach Europe. (ILKHA)