06/07: 28 travelers in Turkish waters, attacked by coastguard and returned to Turkey

07.07.2020 / 14:10 / Aegean Sea

Case name: 2020_07_06-AEG687
Situation: 28 travelers (10 women, 13 children (two of the children disabled) in distress in Turkish waters, their boat cut by Turkish or Greek authorities, brought back to Turkey.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:

On 6th of July, the Alarm Phone was called by the relative of a person on a boat in distress near Lesvos. She reported about 28 persons, among them 10 women, 13 children (two of the children disabled). We received a GPS location in Turkish waters and a phone number from the persons on board. The relative also reported that the Turkish and the Greek coastguards were on scene, but not acting to carry out a rescue. The coastguard had cut a hole into the rubber boat, so that water was entering as she reported. We tried to contact the travelers directly but could not get through. At 14:35h CEST, we informed the Turkish coastguard. We also sent them an e-mail with our information, including GPS location and phone number of the group. At 16:00h CEST, we called again the Turkish authorities, asking for the process of the rescue operation. They informed us about a group of approximately 30 persons, who had been rescued and brought to Çanakkale, Turkey. From then on, we could not contact the travelers directly, and the relative did not have more information either. At 18:00h we called the Turkish authorities again, and they confirmed the rescue of 28 travelers, who at that moment, were at the police station of Çanakkale.
Last update: 15:20 Jan 17, 2021
Credibility: UP DOWN 0
Layers »
  • Border police patrols
     
    While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
  • Coastal radars
     
    Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
  • Exclusive Economic Zone
     
    Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
  • Frontex operations
     
    Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
  • Mobile phone coverage
     
    Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
  • Oil and gas platforms
     
    Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
  • Search and Rescue Zone
     
    An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
  • Territorial Waters
     
    A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans