Shooting Occurred Between Greek Coast Guards And A Turkish Vessel
A shooting incident took place early 12th of April morning in Greek territorial waters, when Turkish individuals on a fishing boat opened fire during an attempted inspection by the Greek Coast Guard crew. The incident took place at 8 in the morning, off Lesvos, according to Greek local media stonisi.gr.
When the shooting started from the other side, the Coast Guard crew immediately returned fire, resulting in the Turkish vessel retreating, first heading towards international waters and then into Turkish maritime territory. According to initial information, there were no injuries on the Greek side. You can see the damages on the Greek boat from the shooting here.
Hours later, on the afternoon of the same day, the Coast Guard issued a statement describing the incident with the Turkish fishing boat in the sea area of Agios Fokas in southern Lesvos, revealing that it was, in fact, an immigrants' deporting ship.
In details, the Coast Guard statement states:
"In the morning hours today, a LS-EL.AKT. (PLS) patrol boat was informed that a fishing vessel (A/K) was disembarking foreigners in the Agios Fokas area, south of Lesvos. The patrol boat spotted the Turkish fishing vessel, after it had disembarked the foreigners on the beach. During the approach, one of the four smugglers on board the T/K-A/K fired a firearm at the patrol boat. Following this, shots were fired in a safe area by the crew of the Coast Guard patrol boat, resulting in the Turkish fishing vessel leaving on an easterly course for the opposite Turkish coast. The PLS followed the T/C-A/C until it reached Turkish territorial waters, while at the same time the corresponding Turkish authorities were notified, who stopped the fishing vessel.
In the wider land area, 25 foreigners were identified by Greek Police officers, who have been transferred to the KARA TEPE "MAVROVOUNI" detention center. There were no injuries from the incident. A preliminary investigation is being conducted by the Central Port Authority of Mytilene."
After the official announcement from the Coast Guard, Vassilis Kikilias, the the Greek Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy, said the following on his Social Media accounts, revealing the true intentions of the government towards these smugglers:
The illegal criminal activity of foreign smugglers is not and will not be tolerated by the Greek authorities. We warn: Zero tolerance.
Vassilis Kikilias, on his X (Formerly Twitter) account.