Greek coast guard accused of trying to sink migrant lifeboat
- 8 years ago
AEGEAN SEA — The Greek coast guard has been accused by its Turkish counterpart of trying to sink a migrant-laden lifeboat near a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.
Video taken from a Turkish coast guard vessel on November 12 and recently released by the Turkish Institute of Public Diplomacy appears to show a sailor armed with a long pole leaning over the side of a Greek coast guard ship attempting to puncture the inflatable boat with 58 mostly Syrian migrants on board, or so Turkish media outlets have reported.
The Hellenic Coast Guard on Saturday vehemently rubbished the allegation in an official statement, saying the video shows a sailor attempting to catch the life boat's rope with a nautical hook so as to bring it closer. The statement also implies the Turkish press is being intentionally dishonest about what happened that night. Turkish outlet Hurriyet reported that the head of the Turkish coast guard complained to his Greek counterpart about it. The Greeks say no such conversation ever happened.
But questions remain. Why did the Greek vessel leave without the migrants on board? Why does one black and white section of the edited video appear to show a Greek sailor stabbing the inflatable with a pole? At one point what look like a burst of air appears from the inflatable's hull after an apparent stab from the Greek sailor's pole.
What's not in dispute is that the inflatable boat was indeed sinking and the desperate people on board needed rescuing. And a Turkish coast guard vessel from which the controversial video was taken did indeed rescue the stricken migrants at take them to the Turkish port of Didim. (It's from ports like this one that migrants fleeing Syria and Iraq hope to make it to Greece for the long onward journey to prosperous nations like Germany.)
So whether the Greek sailor was trying to hook the inflatable or sink it remains known only to the people on board that life boat.
What's also true is that Turkish media is not above smearing the Greek government when it suits them. Watch the video again and decide for yourself.
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Video taken from a Turkish coast guard vessel on November 12 and recently released by the Turkish Institute of Public Diplomacy appears to show a sailor armed with a long pole leaning over the side of a Greek coast guard ship attempting to puncture the inflatable boat with 58 mostly Syrian migrants on board, or so Turkish media outlets have reported.
The Hellenic Coast Guard on Saturday vehemently rubbished the allegation in an official statement, saying the video shows a sailor attempting to catch the life boat's rope with a nautical hook so as to bring it closer. The statement also implies the Turkish press is being intentionally dishonest about what happened that night. Turkish outlet Hurriyet reported that the head of the Turkish coast guard complained to his Greek counterpart about it. The Greeks say no such conversation ever happened.
But questions remain. Why did the Greek vessel leave without the migrants on board? Why does one black and white section of the edited video appear to show a Greek sailor stabbing the inflatable with a pole? At one point what look like a burst of air appears from the inflatable's hull after an apparent stab from the Greek sailor's pole.
What's not in dispute is that the inflatable boat was indeed sinking and the desperate people on board needed rescuing. And a Turkish coast guard vessel from which the controversial video was taken did indeed rescue the stricken migrants at take them to the Turkish port of Didim. (It's from ports like this one that migrants fleeing Syria and Iraq hope to make it to Greece for the long onward journey to prosperous nations like Germany.)
So whether the Greek sailor was trying to hook the inflatable or sink it remains known only to the people on board that life boat.
What's also true is that Turkish media is not above smearing the Greek government when it suits them. Watch the video again and decide for yourself.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus