ARTVIN GOVERNOR KIRLI: ''SIX OF THE THIRTY-FIVE TURKISH FISHERMEN WHO WERE DETAINED HAVE BEEN RELEASED''

ARTVIN - Orhan Kirli, the governor of the northern province of Artvin, announced on Thursday that six of the thirty-five Turkish fishermen who had been detained by Georgian coast guards on charges of fishing in Georgian territorial waters illegally, were released.
Speaking to the A.A correspondent, Kirli said that Georgian officials had seized two Turkish fishing boats on March 11, 2004 and Turkish fishermen aboard those two boats had been detained and taken to Poti port.
Kirli said that initiatives for release of those Turkish fishermen had been under way.
''The Georgian side claims that Turkish fishermen were fishing in Georgia's economic waters while our fishermen say the opposite. According to the claim, Turkish fishermen had continued fishing near Abkhazia despite warnings of Georgian officials. Six of the thirty-five Turkish fishermen aboard two boats who had been detained and taken to Poti port were released two days ago. We are having difficulty in getting healthy information on the incident due to internal turmoil in Georgia,'' he said.
Noting that Turkey's Foreign Ministry officials had launched necessary initiatives, Kirli said, ''Turkey's Consulate General and military officials there are also exerting efforts. I suppose that the problem would be resolved under Georgian laws.''
Meanwhile, A.A correspondent spoke to Mustafa Kuru, the captain of Pala Reis which was seized by Georgian coast guards, on the phone. Kuru defended that they had been detained although they were fishing in accordance with the certificate they had.
''Georgian authorities accused us of planning to go to Abkhazia and imposed a fine of 280 thousand U.S. dollars,'' the captain said and added, ''we are kept hostage among fleet ships at the Poti port. We are worried of being used as a shield. There is no more stored food on both ships. We are stranded. We expect Turkish authorities to rush to our rescue,'' the captain said.
Georgian Coast Guard boats firstly opened harassment fire on two Turkish fishing boats Kaptan Bora and Pala Reis that were fishing off northern port of Rize on March 11, 2004 and later seized the two boats and taken them to Poti port and detained 35 Turkish fishermen aboard.
(MS-AÖ) 18.03.2004