The discovery of 92 naked migrants on the Greek- Turkish border over the weekend has prompted condemnation from the United Nations, as both nations seek to blame one another.
The migrants, all men, were discovered close to the Evros river on the border between Greece and Turkey on Friday, Greek police said in a statement.
“UNHCR is deeply distressed by the shocking reports and images of 92 people, who were reported to have been found at the Greek-Turkish land border, stripped of their clothes,” the United Nations agency tweeted Sunday.
“We condemn such cruel and degrading treatment and call for a full investigation into this incident,” it added.
Greece said Turkey's "behaviour" was a "shame for civilisation", while Turkey branded its neighbour's claims as "fake news" and accused it of "cruelty".
Greek police said that some of the men had "bodily injuries" and said they had provided clothing, first aid and food for the migrants.
The migrants alleged to police and officers at Frontex, the European Union ’s border agency, that they had been forced by Turkish authorities to board three vehicles that took them to the border.
The migrants testified that they had been forced to strip naked before boarding the boats.
Greece’s Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, tweeted a photograph Saturday of what he implied were some of the 92 migrants at the border, accusing Turkey of shameful behaviour.
Turkey has denied involvement in the incident.
Fahrettin Altun, the head of Turkey’s communications directorate and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief spokesperson, said the allegations were “groundless and unfounded."
He said the "Greek machine of fake news" was back at work.
“Greece once again showed the whole world that it does not even respect the dignity of these oppressed people, by publishing the photographs of the refugees it has deported, extorting their personal belongings,” he added.
Turkey regularly accuses Greece of violently pushing back migrants entering the country through land and sea, while Greece accuses Turkey of “pushing forward” migrants to put pressure on the EU.
Greece has urged Turkey to respect a 2016 deal with the European Union in which Ankara agreed to contain the flow of migrants to Europe in exchange for billions of euros in aid.
The UN's refugee agency called for an investigation and said it was "deeply distressed by the shocking reports and images".
Frontex said the men were mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, and that the organisation's fundamental rights officer had been informed of a potential rights violation.
