(Reuters) - Turkey prevented German forces belonging to a European Union military mission carrying out a full search of a Turkish cargo ship that they suspected of taking weapons to Libya, both countries confirmed on Monday.
Soldiers from the frigate Hamburg boarded the Turkish freighter, the Rosaline A, overnight, but had to abandon checks and withdraw after Turkey protested to the EU mission, the German defence ministry said.
The frigate was operating in the Mediterranean as part of the EU's Irini mission, which aims to stop arms reaching the warring factions in Libya.
"By the time the soldiers left the ship, they had not found anything suspicious," a German defence ministry spokesman said.
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Protest erupted in Turkey’s government as the EU mission for controlling the embargo on arms supplies to Libya attempted to check a cargo ship sailing under a Turkish flag in the Mediterranean, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Hami Aksoy, said Monday...
ReplyDelete"As part of the questionable IRINI information, German military ship Hamburg checked the MV Roseline A, which, under the Turkish flag, was transporting paint and humanitarian aid from the Turkish port of Ambarli to Libya's Misrata", Aksoy said.
The vessel was stopped by Germany's Hamburg frigate. According to German officials, the inspection of the cargo ship failed as Turkey did not agree to the vessel being checked, and thus it was stopped.
On 19 November, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that EU leaders could discuss potential sanctions against Turkey over its actions in the Eastern Mediterranean. As Turkey is continuing gas exploration in waters that Cyprus and Greece claim as their exclusive economic zones, the EU is expecting a difficult discussion at the upcoming summit of EU leaders in December, Maas said ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers.
In the mean time the Turkish media target the Greek commander of the forces of the operation “IRINI” off Libya, for the attempted inspecting of a Turkish cargo ship.
DeleteΗ «Επιχείρηση Ειρήνη» αναφέρει σε ανακοίνωσή της: «Χθες το απόγευμα, 22 Νοεμβρίου, η Επιχείρηση Ειρήνη επιθεώρησε το Εμπορικό Σκάφος (MV) ROSELINE A, πλοίο με τουρκική σημαία γενικού φορτίου - σε εφαρμογή των ψηφισμάτων 2292 (2016) και 2526 (2020) του Συμβουλίου Ασφαλείας του Ηνωμένου Έθνους - σχετικά με τα όπλα εμπάργκο στη Λιβύη. Το πλοίο αναχώρησε από την Γιαριμάκα (Τουρκία) στις 20 Νοεμβρίου και κατευθύνθηκε προς Μισράτα (Λιβύη).
ReplyDelete«Όταν το κράτος σημαίας (σ.σ. η Τουρκία) κατέστησε σαφές ότι αρνήθηκε την άδεια επιθεώρησης του σκάφους, η επιχείρηση IRINI ανέστειλε τις δραστηριότητες κατά τις οποίες δεν βρέθηκαν στοιχεία παράνομου υλικού επί του σκάφους και το σκάφος εκκαθαρίστηκε για να συνεχίσει τη διαδρομή του», καταλήγει η ανακοίνωση.
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