The Greek coast guard service has fully denied the publications in the global press, defining as edited the video disseminated by the media, according to which a service member is making a hole with a hook in an inflatable boat full of refuges.
Even on Friday, sources from the coast guard headquarters told the Greek news portal in.gr that the original publication in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet was "ridiculous" and "unworthy of refutation."
The office stated, "At the very least it is contradictory to believe that the Greek coast guard uses such methods that not only disrupt our values and our civilization but are also definitely subject to condemnation. And at a time when, since the beginning of 2015 until the present day, the Greek coast guard service has rescued at sea about 90,000 refugees in hundreds of rescue operations."
The publication in Hurriyet claims that the matter was placed before Greek coast guard director Vice Admiral Athanasios Athanasopoulos by his Turkish counterpart Rear Admiral Hakan Yustem who called for a more "accurate attitude" towards refugees on the part of the Greek coast guard.
The Greek coast guard denied that the two heads of the coast guard services of Greece and Turkey had held the dialogue presented by the Turkish press.
"The Turks are self-refuting themselves as the video is showing that the representative of the Greek coast guard is seeking only to pull the boat with refugees closer to the cutter to save them," indicated sources from the Greek service.
The presented frames make clear that the video was filmed by the crew of a Turkish cutter that was very close to the Greek coast guard cutter at that time. The remaining frames are showing the same operation, but they were shot from a distance with night vision devices, as indicated by the Greek media.
They recall that a video had recently appeared in the media, showing the crew of a Turkish coast guard cutter spraying with hoses a boat with dozens of refugees.
Tags: Greek coast guardFootageTurkish coast guardCharges of drowning refugees
SUPPORT US!
GRReporter’s content is brought to you for free 7 days a week by a team of highly professional journalists, translators, photographers, operators, software developers, designers. If you like and follow our work, consider whether you could support us financially with an amount at your choice.