The captain of a Turkish coast guard boat made dangerous maneuvers in Greek territorial waters around a Greek rescue ship off the island of Leros, the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred on Monday (July 25) off Farmakonisi, northeast of Leros in the eastern Aegean, when a Turkish boat was chasing a Coast Guard rescue ship assigned to the island of Leros.
According to statement Ministry of Shipping, the Greek ship was ordered to identify the target, because the Turkish sailing vessel entered the territorial waters of Greece and did not respond to attempts to establish communication on VHF.
A video of the incident was published by the Greek Ministry of Transport
No one was hurt, according to the ministry.
For its part, the Turkish side stated that the Greek Coast Guard was pursuing a Turkish yacht participating in the “Navy Cup on the High Seas” race among the teams of the Turkish Navy, which took place 3.8 nautical miles southwest of Bulamak Island ”
Turkish authorities said that a Turkish sailing vessel was being harassed by the Greek Coast Guard in the Aegean and the Turkish Coast Guard intervened by intercepting the Greek Coast Guard boat.
In Turkey, the island of Farmakonisi is called the island of Bulamak, and they do not recognize its territorial affiliation with Greece.
Sailing coach and captain Murat Tan told reporters that “they prevented a life-threatening incident” as their boat was being pursued by a Greek Coast Guard vessel.
Turkish sailing boat harassed by Greek Coast Guard during naval forces yacht race: Authorities https://t.co/xJgEOelfxR pic.twitter.com/OogSHf0Oiq
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) July 26, 2022
The Turkish side published a video filmed by the passengers of the sailboat.
According to him, there were nine athletes on the boat, including one woman. “We don’t know why. Our boat is the only boat with a red flag, maybe that’s why it happened,” he added, referring to the color of the Turkish flag.
The fact that they entered the territorial waters of Greece, Turkish yachtsmen, who are employees of the Turkish Navy, naturally “did not know”, despite the fact that the Farmakonisi Islands are the subject of many years of territorial disputes, which often turned into a shootout.
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