ANKARA (Sputnik) – The statement added Ankara hopes that similar incidents would never happen again.
"There were no reasons for opening fire on a unarmed trade vessel. Our only consolation is the fact that nobody was hurt in the incident. We strongly condemn this disproportionate action by the Greek authorities, who violated the everyone's right to live," the statement said.
Earlier in the day, Turkish media reported that the Turkish-flagged ACT freight ship, heading from the Turkish port of Iskenderun to the Izmit Bay in the Sea of Marmara, was attacked by Greece’s coast guards boats after the vessel’s captain refused to reroute to the Greek port of Rhodes Island for inspection. Greek authorities cited anonymous information that the Turkish freighter was carrying drugs to justify the move, and noted that the ship was in the Greek territorial water.