Turkish captain says Greek coast guard fired on his ship in Aegean : CNN Turk

The Greek coast guard fired bullets at a Turkey-flagged freighter in the Aegean Sea on July 3 after it refused to obey calls from the Greek authorities to stop at a Greek port, the captain of the ship has said.


Haluk Sami Kalkavan, the captain of the ship, M/V ACT, told private broadcaster CNN Türk in a phone call that Greek coast guard boats fired shots on the ship around three miles off the island of Rhodes.

According to Deniz News Agency, the 88-meter freighter was heading to the Gulf of İzmit from the southern port of İskenderun.  

Kalkavan said the Greek coast guard instructed him to approach the Rhodes port in international waters but he refused to obey the call and briefed the Turkish side of the situation.

“The Greek coast guard immediately demanded the ship to anchor off the Port of Rhodes while we were passing around the island. They said they would check the ship but we did not accept that. They then said they would shoot if we didn’t stop and they did what they said. We have escaped a great danger,” Kalkavan said.

The coast guard then fired shots in the direction of the ship as it was heading to Turkish territorial waters, he added, noting that there were 16 bullet holes in the ship.

He also said the freighter was now in Turkish waters bound for Marmaris and was not at risk of taking on water.

CNN Türk also reported that two Turkish coast guard boats had arrived at the scene as Turkish foreign ministry officials were also in contact with the related institutions over the incident.

An official from the Greek shipping ministry confirmed that the coast guard tried to inspect the ship's cargo, adding that the vessel did not cooperate and then moved back to Turkish waters. The official did not comment on whether the coast guard opened fire, Reuters reported.
   
The Greek coast guard declined to comment.
 [hurriyetdailynews.com]
3/7/17