Incident with Israeli ship off Cyprus occurred on Nov. 18, source says
Commenting on a report in the Jerusalem Post over the weekend regarding the "deportation" of an Israeli research ship near Cyprus by the Turkish Navy last month, a Cypriot source told the Cyprus News Agency on Monday that it had no part in the decision.
The incident occured on November 18, the official said.
Bat Galim, a vessel belonging to the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, had researchers from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev aboard, as well as a Cypriot geologist, who were doing research approved by the Government of Cyprus in Cyprus’ territorial waters, the JP reported on Sunday.
Turkey does not have jurisdiction over the area of the Mediterranean Sea in which the researchers were working, but its navy demanded that Bat Galim move further south, the newspaper said, noting that the incident took place several weeks after Turkey and Libya signed an agreement delineating maritme zones that ignore the sovereign and economic rights of Greece and Cyprus in the area.
