The Greek coast guard fired in the air and chased the Turkish fishing boat “Barbaros 4” in the Aegean Sea, informed the command of the Turkish Coast Guard, quoted by Habertürk, BTA reported.
The incident happened yesterday afternoon near the shores of Bodrum (Mugla County). A Turkish coastguard vessel and boat immediately arrived in the area and, “using preemptive maneuvers", chased away the Greek cutter chasing the Turkish boat.
No damage was found on the fishing boat. The vessel has safely returned to shore. The incident comes two days after Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya discussed with Greece's Minister of Maritime Affairs Christos Stylianidis the cases of violation of Turkey's territorial waters by Greek boats.
Yerlikaya expressed his displeasure and emphasized that such incidents are unacceptable from the point of view of maintaining good neighborly relations. For his part, Stylianidis has “stated that good neighborly relations between the two countries are important, that the incidents have no political aspect and the violations will not be repeated”.
Meanwhile, Turkey's main opposition People's Republican Party (PPP) has strongly criticized the violations. The vice-chairman of the NRP, Yanka Bagdzooglu, said that in recent days, the violations of Turkish territorial waters by Greek coast guard boats are unfortunately not limited to the sea borders, but even reach almost to the shores, reports the opposition news agency Anka.< /p>
These incidents are an open attack on Turkey's right to sovereignty and absolutely cannot be tolerated. "However, even more unfortunate is the indifference that the Ministry of the Interior and the relevant institutions show towards these cases," Bagjooglu pointed out.