SOFIA - A Turkish fisherman was killed early Thursday when Bulgarian coast guard teams opened fired on a Turkish boat for violating Bulgaria`s territorial waters and poaching.
Bulgarian officials said a coast guard boat drew near the Turkish fishing boat early in the morning and started to altercate. But the quarrel turned into a fight and Turkish fishing boat ran away from the scene, Bulgarian officials said.
But suddenly, a border patrol, who was wounded in his hand during the fight, started to fire on the Turkish fishing boat. Yalcin Ercan, the Turkish fisherman, was shot in the chest and died while being taken to a hospital in Tzarevo.
Bulgarian military prosecutors said they would file lawsuits against both Turkish fishermen and the Bulgarian border patrol who killed Ercan.
Turkish-Bulgarian joint border commission will convene on Friday for an investigation on the incident.
Separately, another Turkish fishing boat was kept on Wednesday off Varna on charges of violating Bulgarian territorial waters and poaching. 10 Turkish crew members were taken into custody, Bulgarian police said.
(TÇ-EÖ)