An incident involving a Turkish fishing boat and a Greek Coast Guard patrol vessel occurred on Tuesday afternoon, northwest near the island of Oinousses in Greek waters, the Hellenic Coast Guard reported on Wednesday.
According to the Coast Guard, one of its patrol vessels approached the Turkish fishing boat and asked it to leave the area. The Turkish boat did not comply and attempted to ram the Greek vessel. Afterwards the coast guard officers employed sound signals and warning shots.
Eventually, the Turkish fishing boat left in the direction of the Turkish coast.
At the same time the United States have urged Turkey to refrain from provocative actions, especially comments that pertain to the sovereignty of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said on Wednesday during a press briefing.
“We were explicit on this,” Pyatt said, and firmly committed to supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Greece, welcoming the continuation of exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey.
Mr Pyatt also committed to facilitating a positive agenda dialogue between the Deputy Foreign Affairs Ministers Kostas Fragogiannis and Sedat Onal following a meeting on Monday, ANA-MPA reported.
“Conflicts within NATO only serve the alliance’s opponents,” he said, and welcomed the efforts of the Greek government to stabilize dialog with Turkey.