Turkey accuses Greece of harassing its research vessel in Aegean Sea

Photo: AA

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Greece's fighter jets perpetrated a "provocative" act by "harassing" Turkey's research vessel in the Aegean Sea, the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) spokesperson has said.

"The Greek jets came within such close range and the action that they took is no doubt a provocative action," Omer Celik told reporters in the capital Ankara late yesterday (February 23).

Earlier, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on the incident, citing sources from the Ministry of National Defense.

Urging Greece to abstain from such behavior, Celik said Turkey has given an adequate response within the framework of the "necessary rules."

He said the incident, which occurred in "international waters" in the northern Aegean Sea, was not conducive to the positive atmosphere created with the recent resumption of exploratory talks between the two countries.

"Let's keep diplomatic channels open. Let's meet. Let's negotiate. Turkey has sufficient expertise and capacity," he stressed.

Earlier on Tuesday, one of four Greek fighter jets that approached the TCG Çeşme west of Lemnos Island launched a chaff cartridge from a distance of two nautical miles (2.3 miles), according to sources quoted by AA.

The TCGÇeşme ship, which was engaged in hydrographic surveying activities at the time, is slated to continue its scientific and technical research in the region until March 2.

Turkey and Greece restarted the "exploratory talks" for a solution in the Eastern Mediterranean on January 26.

Berat Albayrak

Çelik also accused the opposition parties of "targeting family values" over their criticism of Berat Albayrak, the son-in-law of President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Since his resignation in November, Albayrak has not made a public appearance.

Over the past few weeks, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has been especially vocal about the issue, accusing Albayrak of causing the Central Bank to run out of foreign exchange reserves in a bid to keep the US dollar's exchange rate low.

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(EKN/VK)