After Türkiye reported new "pushback" of migrants into territorial waters, Greece's outgoing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he has ordered a probe into the case. According to reports, Greek authorities illegally deported a group of migrants who had reached an eastern Aegean island from Türkiye, allegedly leaving them on a raft at sea for Turkish authorities to pick up.

Mitsotakis, who will be replaced on Thursday by caretaker Prime Minister Ioannis Sarmas, a senior judge, ahead of elections on June 25, strongly denied that Greece has an official policy of returning newly arrived migrants to Türkiye.

Such illegal deportations are known as pushbacks.

In an interview with CNN late Tuesday, Mitsotakis said that he takes the alleged incident reported by the New York Times "very seriously." "It is already being investigated (by) my administration," he said.

"On many occasions, I have distinguished between (the reported pushback), which is a completely unacceptable practice, and our obligation, which is ... intercepting (migrants) on our maritime border with Türkiye and then asking for the Turkish coast guard to come and pick them up," Mitsotakis added.

Greece is a major entry point for migrants seeking a better life in the European Union, most entering illegally from Türkiye in unseaworthy boats provided by smuggling gangs. Mitsotakis' government has tightened patrols, significantly reducing arrivals, but has been repeatedly accused by human rights groups and Turkish officials of migrants pushback.

Athens steadily denies these claims. Mitsotakis on Tuesday accused the Turkish coast guard of "push-forwards," claiming that they "aggressively push desperate people on inflatable boats ... to sea and (push) them into our territorial waters."

The New York Times report, which was based on a video provided by an activist, was made public two days before Greece's parliamentary election on Sunday that were won by Mitsotakis' center-right party with a huge margin. But he will have to seek a new election in just over a month because the electoral law did not give him a governing majority.

The report alleged that in early April migrants were brought by van to a Lesbos beach and then taken by speedboat to a coastguard vessel. The coast guard allegedly left the migrants on a raft at sea from which the Turkish coast guard picked them up before being taken to Türkiye.

Ylva Johansson, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs on Tuesday said the EU has formally asked Athens to "fully and independently" investigate the incident. "It is necessary that proper follow-up is initiated by Greek authorities," she said, adding that the EU's executive branch "stands ready to take formal steps."

Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said on Monday that the EU border agency, Frontex, which helps Greece patrol its eastern sea borders, has rights officers who can help support an independent investigation. "So far, we understand that they have not been able to identify this specific incident, but of course, they can follow up on any reported serious incident that has been filed," she maintained.

Meanwhile, Türkiye has rescued 96 irregular migrants in separate incidents in an Aegean province, the Coast Guard Command said on Wednesday.

Around 50 migrants on two lifeboats off Muğla’s Datça district were saved after being pushed into Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces, the coast guard said in a statement, adding that separately, 46 migrants pushed into Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces were rescued off the coast of Dalaman district.

The migrants were taken to the Provincial Migration Management Directorate.