Greek navy accused of sinking Syrian refugee boat

New video and images leaked by the Turkish press on Friday have shown what is being described as “an attempt by the Greek navy to sink a rubber dinghy carrying 58 Syrian refugees, including children, in the Aegean Sea.”

Zaman newspaper said that the Turkish authorities briefed Greek President Alexis Tsipras, who was visiting Ankara last Tuesday, and showed him the footage. Greek sailors are shown trying to pierce the dinghy with sharp tools.

Although Huffington Post Arabic has not had the opportunity to verify the authenticity of this video and its source, or whether Tsipras did in fact see them, Zaman claimed that the Greek president expressed “shock” when he watched the video in the presence of Turkish navy Commander Hakan Ustem and Greece’s Commander Ananasius Atanasopolos.

The newspaper reported that when the Greek coast guard determined the location of the refugee boat it sent a ship marked with the number LS-060 to the location. After piercing the dinghy, the Greek crew left the refugees to drown as their boat started to sink. Although the ship’s number is clearly shown in the video clips, Huffington Post Arabic was not able to ascertain whether it was Greek or not.

According to Zaman, a Turkish coast guard vessel rescued the refugees before the dinghy sank.

This is an edited version of an article which first appeared in Huffington Post Arabic.