In the eastern Mediterranean, tensions are growing over an attempt by the German armed forces to search a Turkish freighter en route to Libya. Soldiers of the German frigate “Hamburg” wanted to check a container ship for weapons for Libya as part of the European surveillance mission Irini in the Mediterranean, but had to leave the ship again after a protest from Ankara.
The Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay accused the EU of an “unacceptable” approach. The Foreign Ministry in Ankara summoned the German Chargé d’Affaires and two other European diplomats to protest against the Irini action.
It was the third time that Turkey prevented arms controls from European countries. The EU wants to decide on sanctions to punish the aggressive Turkish policies in the Mediterranean at a summit in Brussels on December 10th and 11th.
The Bundeswehr said on Monday that the soldiers of the “Hamburg” tried to inspect the Turkish container freighter “Roseline A” on Sunday afternoon. However, the task could not be carried out, as the Bundeswehr Operations Command announced on Twitter: “The flag state did not subsequently approve boarding, and the mission command canceled the inspection,” the command said.
It remained unclear which armaments were suspected to be on board the “Rosaline A”. The independent Istanbul ship expert Yörük Isik told Tagesspiegel that the ship belongs to the respected shipping company Arkas. In his opinion, the company would never tolerate illegal goods on board one of their ships.
Arkas has been a partner of the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Schenker for 15 years. Isik also doubted that Turkey would still need to bring armaments to Libya by ship. Ankara has been sending many transport planes for some time.
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“Relief supplies and paint”
The incident took place about 200 kilometers north of the Libyan port city of Benghazi. Suspicious goods were not discovered on the freighter. The Turkish state news agency Anadolu published videos showing a helicopter over the “Rosaline A”, from which soldiers were abseiling.
Other footage showed a discussion between the soldiers and crew members on the ship’s bridge. According to the Turkish Foreign Office, the “Rosaline A” transported humanitarian aid and paint.
In the Libya conflict, Turkey supports the government in Tripoli in the war against the rebel general Khalifa Haftar. Turkish military advisers and combat drones played a decisive role in the failure of a major attack by Haftar’s troops on the capital.
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Haftar receives support from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia; France too is on the side of the general. The foreign supporters of both conflicting parties ignore a UN arms embargo on Libya.
The Turkish Foreign Office accused Europe of being partisan with Irini. The Libyan government is punished while deliveries to Haftar are not checked. The Ministry appointed the German Chargé d’Affaires in Ankara and the ambassadors of the EU and Italy; Italy is the location of the Irini headquarters. The state agency Anadolu blamed the Greek commander of the Irini fleet for the incident with the “Rosaline A”. Government-loyal commentators in the Turkish media demanded an apology from Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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EU sanctions against Turkey are becoming more likely
In the summer, according to French information, the crew of a Turkish warship pointed their target radar threateningly at a French frigate, thus preventing a Turkish freighter on its way to Libya from being searched. Turkish warships also prevented Greek frigates from searching a ship.
The new incident makes EU sanctions against Turkey more likely. Europe had asked Turkey several times not to “provoke” in the eastern Mediterranean. Apparently to prevent sanctions, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed several times in the past few days that Turkey sees its future in Europe.
