ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities in Greece said Wednesday that one of the country’s coast guard vessels fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing boat near the island of Chios in the eastern Aegean Sea.
The shipping ministry said the Turkish vessel refused to leave Greek waters and had attempted to ram a patrol boat before the shots were fired.
Turkish officials said one person was injured in the confrontation. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry summoned an official from the Greek Embassy in Ankara in protest.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said the Foreign Ministry formally protested what it described as the “disproportionate use of force” and called for an end to “interventions and harassments” against fishing boats in the Aegean Sea.
The incident occurred amid renewed tension between Greece and Turkey over a long-standing dispute over sea boundaries.
The dispute led to a tense naval standoff between the two NATO members in the eastern Mediterranean in 2020, before the two sides agreed to resume direct diplomatic contacts under pressure from allied governments including Germany.
Diplomats from the Greece and Turkey met in Athens earlier this week.