The Turkish coast guard rescued a total of 68 people who were likely attempting to reach Greece in the Aegean Sea on Thursday (November 24), according to reports from state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu. Turkish officials claimed that the migrants were pushed back by Greece.

A group of 52 people was rescued from inflatable rafts and lifeboats by Turkish officers off Marmaris, in southwestern Turkey, reported Anadolu.

Another 16 migrants were picked up by coast guards from an inflatable raft further north on the western coast of Turkey, near the Kusadasi district, according to Anadolu.

Pushback accusations against Greece

Greece and Turkey share a land border and their mainland coasts both border the Aegean Sea. Most of the many Aegean islands belong to Greece -- some of them in close proximity to the Turkish coast.

Turkey hosts the largest refugee population worldwide, with about four million refugees and asylum seekers. Because of this, there is a large number of migrants and refugees attempting to reach EU country Greece from Turkey -- mostly people who want to travel even further west, to countries like Germany or the UK. This has repeatedly led to tensions between the two countries.

Turkey has often accused Greece of illegally pushing back migrants towards Turkey -- accusations that have been largely backed up by investigative media reports and international rights organizations, including UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Controversial EU-Turkey deal

However, Turkish authorities have similarly been accused of mistreating migrants and refugees -- this includes accusations of illegally expelling Afghan citizens and refugees from Syria.

Greece has also accused Turkey of not living up to the EU-Turkey agreement signed in 2016. Under the deal Turkey receives EU funds earmarked for refugee hosting expenses, and in turn, Turkey is supposed to close its borders to those trying to enter the EU irregularly. Greece however says that Turkish officials are not doing enough to stop the departures of migrants.