Turkey navy commandos seize 5 pirates in Aden Gulf

ISTANBUL, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Turkish navy commandos detained five pirates trying to hijack a Greek boat in the Gulf of Aden, the Turkish military said on Thursday.

The Greek boat was travelling 70 miles from the coast in a security corridor when pirates in a motor boat fired on the vessel.

"The (Turkish naval ship) TCG Gediz prevented the ship hijacking with warning shots and helicopter backup ... The TCG Gediz reacted to the call for help issued by the M/V Theoforos and detained the five bandits on board the motor boat," the military said in a statement.

NATO member Turkey has sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden under an international mission deployed off Somalia since the start of the year to try to prevent attacks.

Piracy has surged off the Somali coast in recent years despite the presence of foreign navies patrolling the area.

Somali sea gangs, operating in the strategic shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe, have made millions of dollars in ransom from hijacking vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. (Reporting by Thomas Grove; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)