A Turkish Coast Guard vessel harassed a Greek fishing boat recently off the coast of the island of Kalymnos, not far from the Turkish coastline. The entire incident, which took place near Imia, the tiny rocky islet that was the site of a standoff in 1996, was caught on tape.
The video, which was released on Thursday by the website of the Kalymnos News, clearly showed the intimidating tactics of the Turkish Coast Guard vessel as it nearly rammed the Greek vessel as it motored along in the eastern Aegean. The same cluster of uninhabited islets nearly brought Greece and Turkey to war more than two decades ago.
The video, which is taken from the deck of the Greek fishing boat, shows rough seas — which are soon churned up even more by the wake of the Turkish vessel, coming at the fishing boat at high speed and then passing directly in front of its bow with seemingly less than a meter to spare.
The resultant wake caused the Greek fishing boat to heel over dangerously before it righted itself.
The video then depicts a much smaller vessel from the Hellenic Coast Guard boat in pursuit after the Turkish Coast Guard vessel.
The incident happened just a week after another Turkish Coast Guard vessel boat hit a Greek boat in the same general area. The collision caused minor damage to the Greek vessel.
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