Greece should not endanger relations with Türkiye for short-term gains, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said on Tuesday as tensions once again run high between the two Mediterranean countries.

"It is the Greek side that is increasing tensions. It is Greece that needs to take steps to decrease this tension," Kalın said, speaking on A Haber television.

"Greece is fighting with the strength it takes from other countries. This is a strategic mistake. Greece cannot generate strength on its own. It does so leaning on the U.S. or EU," he added, stressing that arming islands in the Aegean that are under demilitarized status is against international agreements and would have "consequences."

Reiterating that Türkiye aims for good relations and dialogue, Kalın noted that it was the Greek side halting exploratory talks.

The two countries are again trading accusations of airspace violations as Türkiye accuses Greece of militarizing islands in the Aegean Sea in violation of international treaties.

Ankara recently lodged a protest with the U.S. and Greece over the unlawful deployment of armored vehicles on Aegean islands with nonmilitary status.

The issue of irregular migrants similarly remains an area of debate between Ankara and Athens.

A much-anticipated report by the European Union's anti-fraud watchdog, OLAF, revealed last week that employees from the bloc's border agency Frontex have been covering up Greece's illegal pushbacks of migrants to Türkiye, in violation of peoples' "fundamental rights."

OLAF investigators poured over information from open sources, media reports but also documents from Frontex, the European Commission and interviews with 20 witnesses to investigate accusations of possible involvement and/or covering up of illegal pushbacks and accusations of misconduct or irregularities.

Frontex officers also may not have reported alleged pushbacks due to fear of repercussions from Greece, the report said. In one case, the report said the EU border agency relocated one of its planes apparently "to avoid witnessing incidents in the Aegean Sea."

"In pushbacks, we see footage against human dignity even in Frontex’s records. We do not push them (migrants) back into your side, you accuse us. We are a country hosting five million refugees," Kalın added.

His words come after the two countries on Monday exchanged accusations over 92 migrants who were found stripped naked by Greek authorities at the countries’ joint border. Türkiye has rejected Greece's claims, accusing Athens of "shameless and reckless" behavior.

"To be able to appear right even when you are in the wrong like Greece – you need to be shameless and reckless. It’s only Greece that can achieve this," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a news conference at the end of a meeting in Istanbul of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

"It is natural that Greece ... attempts to slander Türkiye as its crimes increases," Çavuşoğlu said. "Unfortunately, there are European Union member countries who want to believe this, who want to accept everything that Greece says as true ... This is what encourages Greece," Çavuşoğlu said.

Ankara and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece's illegal practice of pushing back asylum-seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

On Monday, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that a total of 61,737 migrants had been illegally pushed back from Greece since 2020, and that 152 migrants died as a result of the pushbacks. So far this year, 26,363 migrants were illegally forced back and 59 of them died, the ministry said.