Turkey Claims Greece Attacked Research Vessel and Tells France to Back Off Turkish Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed Greek naval forces attacked a Turkish research vessel in the Mediterranean, while Greek media have labelled the story “fake news”. President Erdogan claimed the Oruc Reis, a research vessel looking to conduct seismic surveys in Mediterranean territory Greece claims is part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), was attacked by Greek ships on Thursday.