Fires shot at special forces boat from Greek side

Edirne - Anadolu Agency

A Turkish special forces boat that was patrolling the Evros (Meriç) River came under harassment fire shot from the Greek side of the shared border, the governor’s office of the northwestern province of Edirne has said.

The special force police were patrolling the Turkish side of the river and found a corpse of a migrant stuck in the roots of trees.

As they started taking pictures of the individual, shots were fired from the Greek side.

“A group of 10 to 12 people in military camouflage outfit opened harassment fire on the special forces boat. Our personnel responded by firing warning shots into the air and the harassment fire ended,” said the statement.

Tensions at the border have occasionally flared up.

Greece on April 15 notified Turkey’s Foreign Ministry that it was building a fence along their shared land border.  Turkey’s Foreign Ministry conveyed a note on May 11 requesting Athens to give the fence’s exact location and convene a bilateral commission to ensure the land border is not violated.

“It was also communicated to the Greek side that the construction of the fence should not be commenced without technical coordination between the two countries,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Turkey will not allow Greece to unilaterally redraw the border in a fait accompli, but bilateral technical talks as proposed by Turkey could solve the issue, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy.

Despite Turkey’s proposal of cooperation, Greece initiated land work on May 13, violating Turkey’s land border, Aksoy added.