A Turkish Coast Guard boat opened fire on a Cyprus Coast Guard vessel at sea in the Tilliria region in the northwest of the island. This is reported by CyprusMail with reference to the local police.
According to the police, the incident took place at about 03:30 local time (coincides with Moscow time), a small ship with three members of the naval police crew, while patrolling to combat illegal immigration, discovered a Turkish boat. It was located 20 km from the port of Kato Pyrgos in Tilliria.
Then the ship headed towards Tilliria, but the Turkish boat began to pursue him and fired four warning shots, the newspaper writes.
A spokesman for the local police department, Christos Andreou, confirmed the incident, according to the Cypriot radio RIK. He clarified that the Turkish coast guard boat opened fire 7 km from the port of Kato Pyrgos. The head of the police informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulidis about the incident.
Nikos Cleantus, President of the Public Council of Kato Pyrgos, has asked for more patrols and checks both at sea and on land. According to him, it is “inconceivable” that the port and maritime administration of this area was equipped with only one small boat.
According to Cleantus, “the serious provocation of the Turkish Coast Guard is an example of the support provided to the illegal immigrant traffickers who have recently been very frequent in the Kato Pyrgos area of Tilliria,” CyprusMail reports.
