Mayor Miltiadis Sarris and local yacht agents are backing a British effort to do away with what has been labelled a 'tax scam' on boats crossing between Greece and Turkey, and which they say has 'dramatically' reduced the numbers of charter yachts calling into Symi this summer - in turn reducing business for the Island's shop,bar, supermarket and restaurant owners.

'Dramatically' isn't an over-statement.In fact the number of charter yachts visiting the Island this year is down by an astounding 80 per cent.  For official Custom- House figures show that from the start of the season until mid-July 1999, 370 charter yachts had berthed in Yialos harbour. The figure for the same period this season was just 70.

Says the Mayor ' They have raised the taxes by five hundred per cent. This is crazy. Why should they do these ridiculous things to other members of the Common Market. We are all supposed to be one family now. I tried to explain these things to the authorities, but they don't listen. However we shall keep trying to persuade them.'

As a result of the tax-hike,  private and charter boats now have to pay on a scale which means fees of about three hundred pounds for a 30-ft  vessel which comes into a Greek port, then leaves for Turkey, but returns again within 30 days.

Cross-overs
The cross-overs between the two countries are , of course, among the most popular cruises with thousands of holidaying British sailors, who like to combine the Dodecanese Islands and the Turkish  coastline. . But at the moment, some British yacht brokers are advising their clients to stay inside national waters . One broker has been quoted as

Not a lot of yachts in sight -
taxes are keeping many boats away this season

saying 'You can't combine Greece and Turkey, It's not worth the hassle.' A visiting English yachtsman who visits this area almost annually told the Visitor 'The charges mean that I have to pay around 350 pounds for the privilege of coming to Symi if I want to do my usual to-and-fro-ing.' I shan't be coming again; they're killing the goose that lays the golden egg.'   
The Royal Yachting Association has also highlighted cases in which the Greeks are alleged to have defied a UN convention on the Law of the Sea, by taxing boats that have been forced into port by bad weather or mechanical breakdowns.

The European Policy Directorate in London says that the taxes being charged in Greece contravene UAE law,and one English

national newspaper has reported that the British Embassy in Athens is liaising with the Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine in an effort to get the taxes revoked.
So far however, the Embassy has made no comment on the issue.

Meanwhile yacht agents George Kalodoukas and Almet Ozturk say 'The agents in both Greece and Turkey are doing the best that they can, but sometimes people get confused and think that these new taxes are in fact charges imposed by us. They are not.

'We have tried to get something done about these taxes, but in vain. We hope that the British efforts will be more successful.'

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