Turkey urges Greece not to provoke its research vessel in Med

Turkey has urged Greece to avoid provocative actions against its research vessel Oruç Reis deployed in the eastern Mediterranean or it will be retaliated in kind, a statement in reference to an incident between the two countries involving a frigate, which was later described as "an accident" by the Greek authorities.

"We cannot leave even the tiniest attack against our civilian ships unanswered. If Greece continues to attack Oruç Reis, we will retaliate in kind," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters in Istanbul on Aug. 14.

The ties between Turkey and Greece have become tense once again due to overlapping claims over the continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean where Turkey is carrying out seismic works by the Oruç Reis survey ship accompanied by the Turkish warships.

An incident between the Turkish frigate Kemal Reis and the Greek frigate Limnos occurred two days ago with Turkey describing it as "provocation" by Greece while Greece called it "an accident" as a result of a "mini collision."

"An incident like that happened yesterday and the Kemal Reis gave the necessary response. They will be retaliated in kind if attacks continue," Erdoğan stated.

In Bern, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also raised the incident at a press conference with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on Aug. 14.

"Greece should act in common sense. It should avoid attempts to harass our Oruç Reis ship, the way it did two days ago," he said.

A Greek defense ministry official characterized the incident as an accident and a mini collision be-tween the Turkish and Greek frigates with no major harm on the two sides, according to Reuters.

[HH] Oruç Reis to stay in the Mediterranean until Aug. 23

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