|
|
|
Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-09-04
CONTENTS
[01] Report: Turk patrol ferried illegals
[01] Report: Turk patrol ferried illegals
Greece's coast guard on Thursday charged that a Turkish patrol boat
attempted to disembark roughly 20 suspected illegal immigrants on a
remote beach in the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, an unprecedented
incident that comes amid a wave of illegal migrants attempting to reach
Greek islands and territories from neighbouring Turkey over the recent
period.
According to an official report, the clearly identified Turkish coast
guard vessel was spotted in Greek territorial waters early Thursday
morning northeast of the "Palios" region of Lesvos. When the crew of
the Turkish vessel became aware of an approaching Greek coast guard
patrol boat it reversed course and sped away towards the Turkish
coast.
The incident marks the first time that coast guard authorities have
directly cited involvement by Turkish vessel in the ferrying of mostly
Third World migrants onto Greek and EU territory, although Athens has
repeatedly and actively called on the neighbouring country to exercise
a tighter control of its sea lanes and to especially honour a bilateral
agreement for the re-admittance of illegal migrants passing from Turkey
to Greece and vice versa.
Caption: ANA-MPA file photo.
|
