Turkish Corvette Sails in the Aegean as Tension is Reported at Imia
By
Philip Chrysopoulos
-
Dec 28, 2017
A Turkish corvette is escorting a newly-acquired drillship by Turkey for exploratory offshore drilling in the Mediterranean Sea.
The movement of the corvette is being monitored by the Greek navy.
According to reports, it is currently in international waters southeast of Greece’s Peloponnese region, escorting the Drillship Deepsea Metro 2.
Its exact destination is not known, a fact which has raised concern in Cyprus, wary of intrusions to its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
On Tuesday, drilling ship Saipem 12000 entered the Cypriot EEZ, to start operating in the next few days for Italy’s ENI.
Meanwhile, six Greek fishing boats “wanted to enter Turkish waters” at Imia, said Turkish newspaper Milliyet on Wednesday, speaking of tensions in the sea area.
Specifically, the Turkish newspaper reported that a Greek coast guard boat from the port of Kalymnos, and six Greek fishing boats approached
Imia and “wanted to enter Turkish waters”, but Turkish patrols blocked the Greek boats.
According to the Turkish newspaper, the coast guard vessel and the fishing boats, went to an area where eight Turkish boats were fishing in “international waters”.
Milliyet said that the Greek boats approached the Turkish boats at a distance of 100 metres, and were driven away.
