TBILISI, Aug 12 (AFP) - Georgian coastguards Thursday seized a Turkish freighter sailing off the coast of Abkhazia amid Georgia's intensifying efforts to stamp its control over the separatist Black Sea region, officials said.
The incident came on the second day of a visit to the Caucasus republic by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose was touring the nearby Black Sea coast region of Adjara.
The freighter Ertug, which was headed from Potia, Georgia across the Black Sea to Russia, crossed into Abkhaz waters without permission, a Georgian coast guard official told AFP.
Its captain will now have to pay a 27,000-dollar (22,000-euro) fine to get the ship back.
The incident came just a week after Georgian patrol guards opened fire on another Turkish ship and threatened to shoot at those coming from Russia, whose tourists frequently sunbathe on Abkhaz shores in the summer.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has vowed to win control of Abkhazia and has tightened control of the region.