This video footage seems to show the Greek coast guard deliberately sinking a life raft full of Syrian migrants, then leaving them for the Turkish to deal with.

Footage recorded on November 12 shows a crewman on a Greek-marked coast guard ship jabbing a pole into an inflatable ship in the Aegean Sea.

The raft's 58 passengers scream and shout as the vessel starts to sink, before the Greek vessel sails away.

Migrant raft: Footage released by Turkish officials seems to show a Greek coast guard vessel sinking a migrant raft then abandoning them

Pole: A uniformed Greek sailor uses this pole to jab at the boat, as its passengers shout and scream at him

Spiked: Turkish officials said they showed the footage to the Greek coast guard commander, who was shocked

Footage then shows the migrants, who are wearing lifejackets, being pulled from the water into a Turkish vessel afterwards, while their own boat starts to sink below the sea.

They were then taken back to the Turkish port city of Didim, where thousands of migrants start their attempts to get into Europe, due to its proximity to Greek islands in the Aegean.

The footage was released by the Turkish government on Friday.

An official said that Turkish officials showed the footage to the head of the Greek coast guard earlier in the week and asked them to stop.

According to the Yeni Şafak newspaper, the incident took place around 6am very close to the Didim coast.

The Hurriyet Daily News reported that rear admiral Hakan Üstem told his counterpart, coast guard commander Athanasios Athanasopulos: 'We would be very pleased if you order your team to refrain from such acts'.

Crisis: A migrant woman inside Greece sheds a tear as she is held near the border with Macedonia

Difficult times: Thousands of migrants have started their journey through Europe in Greece due to its proximity to Turkey

Desperate journey: Rescuers on the shore gesture to a dinghy marked 'SOS' full of migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos

Falling apart: Many of the boats used by Greek-bound migrants are barely seaworthy. Pictured is one on Lesbos

The newspaper reported that commander Athanasopulos was 'shocked' and said he would take action to stop it happening again.

Western media have been unable to reach the Greek coast guard for comment.

About 650,000 refugees and migrants fleeing war and poverty have reached the EU through Greece so far this year with many risking their lives by sea. Thousands have drowned.