Turkish warships harass Cypriot fishing boat in intl. waters

NICOSIA - 17 August 2018: Two Turkish warships have harassed a Cypriot fishing boat as it was fishing in international waters between Turkey and Cyprus, in an incident which Nicosia is expected to protest about at the UN level.

Aristos Aristidou, the owner of the fishing boat, told Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that the fishing trawler was in international waters, 16 nautical miles off Turkey’s shores, northern of Apostolos Andreas when two Turkish warships harassed it and asked the captain to leave the area.

“The captain contacted me at about 0200 hours (2300 GMT) and I then asked him to move away to 24 nautical miles (off Turkey’s shores) and to remain in international waters,” Aristidou said.

He added that the Turkish ships approached the vessel again at 4 am and threatened to tow the boat and arrest everyone on board if they did not leave.