Turkish Naval ships can be seen from Paphos

Πηγή: Defencegreece
Sep. 25 2011


”Frigates sail into the Mediterranean”Under the above title, Turkish daily Aksam (23.09.11) reports that the Turkish Navy vessels Salih Reis, Sokullu Mehmet Pasa and Oncu have sailed from Izmir. According to the paper, the ships’ mission is to act as a hindrance if drilling activities start in areas that Cyprus has declared as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), but Turkey says that they belong to “Turkey’s or TRNC’s territorial waters”.

The paper writes that one of the frigates will wait in “Turkey’s territorial waters”, 6 miles open of Cyprus and it will be possible to be seen from the city of Pafos. The other 2 frigates will patrol the area while 3 torpedo boats which are part of the “TRNC Peace Forces” [as they refer to Turkey's occupational forces] will patrol plots 2 and 3 of Cyprus’s EEZ. The ships will reportedly not take any action in plot 12 where currently exploratory drilling is under way, since it does not belong to “Turkey’s of TRNC’s territorial waters.” Additionally, 3 submarines have sailed yesterday morning from the Golcuk naval base.

Moreover, the paper reports that according to Ankara, out of the 13 plots that constitute Cyprus’ EEZ, plots 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 belong to Turkey, while plots 2 and 3 belong to “TRNC’s territorial waters.”