A Turkish Coast Guard vessel harassed its Hellenic Coast Guard counterpart, within Greek territorial waters, on the morning of January 5, 2023 in the Aegean Sea close Farmakonisi.
On Wednesday, the newspaper Dimokratia brought to light the video which proves Turkish aggression against Greece.
The video clearly shows how close and at what speed the Turkish offshore vessel is approaching the Greek Coast Guard vessel, with the risk of ramming it. The Greek port guards are at the stern of the boat, weapons in hand and ready to react.
At that time, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias sent a letter to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, regarding the illegal activity of Turkish fishing vessels in Farmakonisi and the provocation of the Turkish coast guard.
As he pointed, these provocations increase the chances of an "accident".
At the time of the incident, the Hellenic Coast Guard vessel was on a mission to identify three Turkish fishing vessels that had illegally entered Greek waters. The Turkish fishing vessels notified their own coast guard and from the moment the Turkish vessel arrived, things took a dangerous turn.
The Greek patrol boat saw the Turkish boat heading towards them. The men of the crew calmly watched the movements of the Turks, not deviating from their goal.
At first the Turkish vessel began to circle the Greek vessel at a long distance, but always within Greek territorial waters. With each circle the Turks made, they got closer and closer to the Greek Coast Guard vessel.
On the Greek boat, the men had taken the automatic weapons in their hands and had shot at its stern and were waiting for the movements of the Turks. The Turkish boat stopped the circles and made the deceptive move towards the side of the Greek boat.
At the last moment the Turkish captain turned his steering wheel, got behind the Greek one and began to come dangerously close to ram it. The three Greeks of the Coast Guard who were at the stern of the boat and saw the bow of the Turk coming towards them started shooting in the air and made the Turks flee.
The images that show the Greek vessel not deviating in the slightest from its course are typical. The composure of the Hellenic Coast Guard personnel at the wheel was initially the reason there was no accident.
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