Three irregular migrants have died after falling into the cold waters of the Aegean Sea and being kicked back into Turkish waters by Greek security forces, the Turkish Coast Guard Command said in a statement late Monday.

"On 19 December 2020 at 07:10 a.m., upon receiving information regarding that there was a group of irregular migrants on 3 lifeboats off the coast of Izmir’s Foça district/Aslan Burnu, 2 Coast Guard boats were dispatched to the area immediately," the Coast Guard said.

"While they were being embarked on lifeboats in order to be left to Turkish territorial waters, 5 migrants fell into the sea from a punctured lifeboat. 2 of the 5 migrants who fell into the sea were taken alive. But 3 of them lost their lives," it added.

Turkish authorities also revealed that the migrants were beaten by Greek forces, and their valuable possessions were stolen from them.

"As a result of the search and rescue operation, 31 irregular migrants in total were rescued," the Coast Guard added.

"Judicial investigation has been initiated as regards the incident by Foça Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office," the command concluded.