Turkish analyst, publicly admits the interception of the Greek frigate Lemnos on the Turkish flagship Kemal Reis in August 2020, during the peak of the crisis of the Oruç Reis violating Greece's maritime space around Kastellorizo.
Speaking on CNN Türk, Abdullah Ağar, a security and terrorism expert, referred to the incident - for which Ankara is still silent - describing the "interception" as a "cause of war" with Greece - (time point 28:05 in the video / translation Tourkika Nea)
Among other things, the Turkish analyst stated: "Greece, when France was added, we saw that the ships came very close to each other and they behaved with great audacity.
"That is, the frigate Lemnos came and hit our ship the Kemal Reyes, and it did this on purpose.
"Their ship was damaged and together with tug boats they transported it to the port of Piraeus.
"That is actually a cause of war."
Ağar stressed that time is not working in Turkey's favour after Greece's purchase of new equipment and the French Rafale fighter jets.
"We have to be realistic, time does not work in our favour, especially after the US-imposed embargo on F-35s," he said.
"That pushed us out of the plan and on the other hand the purchase of Rafal from Greece," Ağar added.
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For the record, Lemnos was not towed to Piraeus, as the Turkish analyst falsely stated, but on the contrary had continued its mission, normally taking part in a joint Greek-French naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean.
In fact, the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA) then released relevant photos.
The "recovery" of the "Kemal Reis"
On August 12, 2020, the Turkish frigate Kemal Reis, accompanied the Oruç Reis, on its ventures in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Greek continental shelf.
Due to mishandling of the Kemal Reis captain and because he tried to provoke the Greek navy, the Turkish flagship collided with the Greek frigate Lemnos.
The Turkish ship did not keep its course steady and its rear collided with the front of the Greek frigate.
As a result, the Turkish frigate suffered significant damage to its stern in contrast to the Lemnos, which continued its mission in the Southeast Mediterranean Sea, following the movements of the Oruç Reis.
At that time, Proto Thema had brought to light a photo of Kemal Reis, with a crack in the stern.
According to the international navigation rules, the Turkish frigate, since it was on the left side of the Greek one, should have given priority to Lemnos, something that did not happen.
This resulted in the "interception" for which the Turkish Ministry of Defence and the media tried to reverse the reality, as per usual.
Characteristic was the article of the pro-government Yeni Şafak, who published as the first "news" of the event entitled: "Turkish slap on the Greek Lemnos" and subtitled: "Here is what Lemnos suffered from Kemal Reis when it tried to prevent Oruç Reis."
READ MORE: Turkey caught spreading fake news about “damaged” Greek warship to cover embarrassment.
The article was accompanied by a photo of the Greek frigate with the alleged damage caused by the collision with Kemal Reis, with the comment that "the Greeks paid a high price" and that the Greek - with damage to the bow - was withdrawn for repairs.
However, what caused a variety of comments, especially on social networks, was the technical processing done by the Turks in the photo of "Lemnos", which really stood out with a sharks head painted.
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