Turkish coastguard vessel fires warning shots at Cyprus police boat

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north next week, tension prevails on the island country. In the latest development, the Turkish coastguard vessel that was on patrol for undocumented migrants have fired warning shots at a Cyprus police boat, the Cyprus News Agency reported on Friday. Police spokesman Christos Andreou told the News Agency that the incident took place at around 3.30 am during a regular patrol by the marine police to check for illegal immigrants arriving from Turkey. 

Coastguard fired several warning shots at Cyprus police ship

It said that the small three-member boat spotted a Turkish coastguard vessel coming from the northern part of the island about 11 nautical miles from the port of Kato Pyrgos Tyllirias. The report further added that the boat then started heading towards the fishing shelter of Tylliria, but the Turkish coastguard, about 30 metres in length, began to pursue it. According to Andreou, the coastguard fired several warning shots against the boat at four nautical miles off the coast, before turning towards the north again.

UNFICYP to investigate the matter

According to the latest development, Cyprus foreign ministry spokesman Demetris Samuel told the Cyprus News Agency that the ministry has made representations to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and asked the peacekeeping force to investigate it. “It is premature to say whether the incident is related to the climate being created by Turkey in view of the illegal visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the occupied areas,” he added.

(With Input From Agencies)