SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
New collision between Greek, Turkish ships in Aegean
Athens, May 4 (AFP) May 04, 2018
Greece on Friday said one of its warships had collided with a Turkish ship in the Aegean Sea, the latest in a series of encounters between the regional rivals and NATO allies.

The Greek navy said the Turkish merchant ship had "approached and touched" one of its gunboats, which was taking part in a NATO exercise.

After the collision the merchantman fled back towards Turkish waters, the navy said.

"Nobody was hurt and no serious damage was caused," it added. "This was most probably a classic naval accident, without any provocative intention on the part of the Turkish ship."

Turkey has for decades disputed Greek sovereignty over Aegean waters and airspace close to Turkish shores, which Athens says is based on postwar treaties.

The two countries nearly went to war over a cluster of uninhabited islets in 1996, and mock dogfights between the two airforces are common.

Last month, a Greek fighter pilot died when his plane crashed in the Aegean while returning from a mission to intercept Turkish jets.

A few days earlier, Greek soldiers had fired warning shots at a Turkish helicopter after it approached the small island of Ro, which is on Greece's border in the Aegean's southeast.

There is also tension over Greece's refusal to extradite eight Turkish soldiers who sought refuge in the country after the failed 2016 army coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Greek Supreme Court has ruled against extradition, arguing that they would not receive a fair trial in Turkey.

In turn, Turkey has refused to release two Greek soldiers who were caught in March after crossing the border, claiming to have lost their way in the fog.

str-jph/dl/bmm


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Russian space chief to meet NASA head for first time in eight years
BlackSky to supply satellite imagery and analytics for Latin American security operations
Cascade raises 59M to develop full stack satellite communications platform

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Palantir, the AI giant that preaches US dominance
China and US wrap first day of trade talks
'Food on table' outweighs health risks for Philippine e-waste dismantlers

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
North Korea warns US against pushing it to give up nukes
Iran vows stronger response if attacked again by US, Israel
Ukraine says Russian attacks targeted western city, home to airfield

24/7 News Coverage
BAE Systems completes delivery of NOAA and NASA space weather satellites for fall launch
Building blocks of life found in distant star system suggest origins in interstellar space
Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.