Turkish Coast Guard
Two very serious incidents took place in Greek territorial waters on April 26 and 27, when Turkish coastguards entered Greek territorial waters and almost collided with European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) boats outside Chios.
On April 26 at 23:40 in the sea area northeast of Chios, a Turkish coastguard entered Greek territorial waters and made dangerous maneuvers at a speed of 35 knots.
In fact, it reached just ten meters from the bow of a Finnish FRONTEX boat but at the last moment changed course, narrowly avoiding a collision.
The boat immediately demanded the departure of the Turkish boat, which finally happened ten minutes later.
Respectively at 7:20 on the morning of April 27, a Turkish Coast Guard boat passed just "breathing" distance from a Swedish FRONTEX boat in an area east of Chios.
After a while it left.
In both cases there were no Greek vessels as the specific points were covered by FRONTEX.
The Director of the Service has already been informed and characterised the incidents as "extremely serious."
He also stressed that they are expected to be discussed on Friday's FRONTEX meeting
The Vice President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, and the Commissioner for Immigration, Ylva Johansson, have already been informed and an investigation has been ordered.
READ MORE: EU Commissioner says Turkey should “urgently resume the return of migrants from Greece.”
This post was last modified on May 5, 2021 10:26 pm