Greek coast guard shoots Turkish freighter

ankara/athens - The captain of a Turkish cargo ship says that the Greek coastguard had shot his ship after he had ignored orders for an inspection in the port of Rhodes. There were sixteen bullet holes in the hull, but nobody got injured, said captain Sami Kalkavan against CNN-Türk.

'They warned they would shoot if I did not stop and they did what they said,' said Kalkavan. Why did not he want to inspect his cargo, the skipper did not say.

The Greek Ministry of Shipping confirmed that a Turkish ship had withdrawn and returned to Turkish waters. The Greek Coast Guard did not want to respond. In the region, ships are regularly inspected, suspected of transporting migrants or smuggling drugs, weapons or cigarettes.