The announcement of the Coast Guard:
“In the morning hours today, a floating patrol car of the L.S.-EL.AKT. detected a Turkish fishing (A/C) vessel fishing within Greek territorial waters, in the sea area northeast of Zourafa islet.
During the attempt to control the fishing vessel, the captain of the Turkish vessel made a sudden change of course, resulting in the collision of the two vessels.
The fishing vessel then left on its own towards the Turkish coast, while the Coast Guard vessel remained in the area to assess the damage and provide any assistance to the fishing vessel.
After the removal of the Turkish fishing vessel, the Coast Guard vessel returned to the port of Samothraki, where minor material damage was found in its bow section.
A preliminary investigation is being carried out by the Port Authority of Samothrace, while there were no injuries from the incident and no marine pollution was found.”
But they say in Turkey
In Turkey, the media described the incident in a completely different way, reopening issues of a blue homeland and claiming territories that do not belong to them. According to the report, the incident took place in the area of the Zourafa rocks, near the shores of Imbro. Ilker Ozdemir, a fisherman with his fishing boat, was in international waters when, according to his complaints, a vessel of the Hellenic Coast Guard rammed his boat, causing serious damage.
Ozdemir stated that while he was fishing offshore, the Greek vessel approached and hit his, causing cracks and breaks in the fishing vessel. He and his son, Efe Ozdemir, immediately called the 112 emergency line for help. Three Turkish Coast Guard vessels arrived in the area to provide support.
The Turkish crew attempted to drain the water from the vessel, which began to take on water due to the impact. Turkish Coast Guard teams that arrived at the scene provided first aid to Ilker and Efe Ozdemir, who were slightly injured by the broken glass. The fishing vessel “K?z?lelma-1” was finally towed to the Kastro port of Imbro by two vessels of the Turkish Coast Guard.
In a video shared by Ilker Ozdemir, he said: “The Greek boat hit our boat with its own boat. Thank God our boat does not take on water in this condition. We are 4 miles from Zurafa Rocks. We are in the “Blue Country”, we are in international waters. They came, they mightn’t digest it and they beat us. We are in this situation where we are being towed and they escaped. Unfortunately, our boat was hit, we can’t move.”
The reaction of the Turkish Coast Guard was immediate, as four of its vessels rushed to the area. It was found that the Greek Coast Guard vessel quickly moved away from the scene, while there were no other Greek vessels in the area during the investigations. In a statement, it says that investigations into the incident are still ongoing, while the Turkish authorities continue to collect evidence and witnesses to fully clarify the circumstances of the incident.
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