Thursday, March 3, 2016

Greece's Coast Guards Seize Turkish Ship Carrying Weapons to Lebanon

Greek Coast guard officers stand outside their vessel at the port of Kalymnos island. (File)

© AP Photo/ Dimitris Drosos

Turkish media reported that the Greek Coast Guards stopped and confiscated a Turkish ship carrying weapons to Lebanon.

The incident took place on Monday. The ship reportedly departed from the port of Izmir on February 4 and was loaded with six containers, two of which contained weapons and ammunition. Greek authorities arrested all crew members, among them six Syrians, one Indian and four Lebanese.
Turkish authorities were repeatedly accused of providing weapons to radical groups, including those in Syria. The supplies are reported to have occurred in various forms, including deliveries using columns with humanitarian aid.
According to some experts, relations between Turkey and Greece may further deteriorate amid a recent NATO operation in the Aegean Sea, which is aimed at stopping the influx of refugees to Europe. The Aegean Sea islands have been a major source of tension between Greece and Turkey since the 1970s, bringing the two countries to the brink of military confrontation in 1987 and 1996.

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