Greek coast guard violates Turkish waters pursuing migrant boat

Turkish news outlets have released videos appearing to show the Greek vessel chasing a dingy near the Turkish city of Bodrum.

Transcript

00:00Videos of Greek Coast Guard boats violating Turkish territorial waters and approaching

00:04all the way to mainland in two different dates are captured by Turkish citizens and posted

00:09online. The first footage shows a Greek Coast Guard

00:12boat approaching Akyarlar beach of the Bodrum Peninsula in the city of Mula. The Greek soldiers

00:17seem to be in pursuit of a Zodiac with a person in it who is believed to be an illegal migrant.

00:23Greek soldiers stop less than a hundred meters before land and turn back.

00:28However, in the second incident that was recorded in Datça, which is another coast town in

00:34the city of Mula, the Greek soldiers go all the way to dry land to capture the Zodiac

00:39boat, but the person in the Zodiac abandons the boat before he could be captured.

00:44At that point, a Greek soldier gets out of the Coast Guard boat and gets into the empty

00:48Zodiac and both boats return to Greece. Following the incident, the Turkish Interior

00:57Minister Ali Yerlikaya called the Greek Minister of Maritime and Island Policy Christos Thylianides

01:02on the phone. According to a statement from the Interior

01:06Ministry, Yerlikaya expressed the discomfort felt by the violation and stated that such

01:11violations are unacceptable in order to maintain good neighborly relations.

01:18According to the Greek statement, the discussion was in a positive atmosphere and they agreed

01:21on the desirability of avoiding similar incidents that could create wrong impressions.

01:28The Turkish Interior Ministry says that the Greek side started an investigation and will

01:32inform Turkish authorities of its findings.