Greece arrests four Turks in restricted border zone

Greece has arrested four Turks, including two identifying themselves as journalists, in a restricted northeastern border zone by the River Evros, police said today.

Police reported the two journalists as saying they had crossed over to cover the aftermath of a boat accident yesterday.

The boat was transporting nine people going from Turkey to Greece. A woman and three of her children remain missing.

The other two arrested said they were "relatives of the missing family," according to police.

Greek media said a search for the missing was under way and that they were trying to escape a crackdown after a failed 2016 coup in Turkey. Tensions between the neighbours, both NATO members, have been running high since Athens refused to hand over eight Turkish officers who fled hours after the failed putsch against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ankara accuses the eight of involvement in the coup. Greece in May granted political refugee status to two of the officers, further infuriating Ankara.

Another incident souring relations happened in March when Turkish authorities arrested two members of a Greek patrol near the Turkish frontier city of Edirne.

The pair said they strayed into Turkey by mistake but Turkish justice has rejected calls to free them ahead of a trial, despite Greece exerting diplomatic pressure via the European Union and NATO.