Greek, Turkish navies play cat-and-mouse on Aegean

MUĞLA – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

Greek and Turkish navies experienced tension on the Aegean Sea on Nov. 12, after a Greek coastguard boat harassed Turkish fishers inside Turkish territorial waters.

The naval forces of Turkey and Greece played cat-and-mouse on the Aegean Sea that lasted for about 20 minutes in the afternoon of Nov. 12, after a Greek coastguard boat harassed Turkish fishers inside of Turkish waters.

A Greek coastguard boat harassed Turkish fishers for around two hours off of the coast of the western province of Muğla’s Bodrum. The Greek boat came inside the area of the two islands just before the Turgutreis neighborhood of the Bodrum district. 

Two Turkish warships intervened, resulting in cat-and-mouse style maritime activities which lasted for around 20 minutes. At one point, ships were within 30 meters of each other, which forced the Greek boat to retreat from Turkish territorial waters to the nearby Greek island of Kalymnos.

Meanwhile, the Turkish General Staff announced that two Greek fighter aircrafts violated Turkish airspace around the southwest of İzmir for 55 seconds on Nov. 12.

Cat-and-mouse maritime activities and dogfights between Turkish and Greek aircrafts over the Aegean Sea have significantly decreased due to the economic crisis Athens is struggling with.