An extraordinary event took place last night with Turkish media remaining completely silent about the renewed tensions in the Aegean.
Last night, the Greek frigate Limnos rammed and damaged the Turkish Kemal Reis war ship in the Aegean.
Turkish media has remained completely silent about this incident, and the only outlet brave enough was EHA News, who wrote on their Twitter that the Greek frigate was “intercepted” by the Turkish frigate Kemal Reis and caused damage to the Greek ship, forcing it to return to port.
However, photos published today by the Navy from the aeronautical exercise with the French show the Greek ship intact without damage or other problems. EHA News quickly deleted their Tweet after it was revealed that the Limnos frigate had no damage.
According to Defense Review, Turkish frigate MEKO 200 has suffered serious damage.
Yesterday, Greek City Times reported on a speech made by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitostakis that was announced only minutes before the broadcast.
He delivered the speech in a seriousness that some social media users have said they have never seen before from Mitsotakis, and said that “the risk of an accident lurks when so many troops are concentrated in a limited area. And the responsibility in such a case will be borne by the one who causes these conditions.”
Many in Greece are now linking Mitsotakis’ uncharacteristically serious tone and speech to the incident between the Limnos and the Turkish frigate.
What makes this incident all the more extraordinary is that the Kemal Reis Turkish frigate is one of the most modern in the Turkish Navy, belonging to the Barbaros-class and commissioned in 2000.
Meanwhile, the Limnos is an old Elli-class frigate that was commissioned in 1982 and is one of the most inferior ships in the Greek Navy.
None-the-less, the old Limnos managed to damage the Kemal Reis enough that it had to return to port, demonstrating once again the superiority of Greek seamanship and why the Greek Navy has never lost a battle since its modern formation in 1821.
The fact that Turkish Oruç Reis research vessel left the Greek continental shelf shortly after the incident and illegally entered the Cypriot one is another point of proof that Turkey was rattled by incident.
SLPress explained that “Greece has benefited doubly from the way the Turkish offensive movement developed. First, because the Greek frigate managed to turn the Turkish offensive into a boomerang. Secondly, because there is a record that shows Turkish aggression.”
The complete Turkish silence about the incident is telling, and also explains why Turkey is desperately pushing for a diplomatic line now. One of Turkey’s most modern frigates was humiliated by one of Greece’s oldest.
The Kemal Reis is likely to be out of service for many months according to Militaire. The Kemal Reis propeller shaft twisted after the Limnos rammed into the Turkish ship.
This blow and damage created a gap in the sealing, resulting in the entry of water into the cetacean of the Turkish frigate.
The proof will be known whether we see the Kemal Reis ship operating in the Aegean again over the next few months.
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