German defense minister rejects Turkey complaint over Libya weapons ship search

A German soldier lands from a helicopter on a Turkish cargo ship on November 23, 2020 at east mediterranean sea. (AFP)
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  • Germany insists it acted correctly in boarding a Turkish ship to enforce arms embargo of Libya
  • Turkey summoned European diplomats to complain at the operation

BERLIN: Germany鈥檚 defense minister on Tuesday rejected Turkey鈥檚 complaints over the search of a Turkish freighter in the Mediterranean Sea by a German frigate participating in a European mission, insisting that German sailors acted correctly.
Sunday鈥檚 incident prompted Turkey to summon diplomats representing the European Union, Germany and Italy and assert that the Libya-bound freighter Rosaline-A was subjected to an 鈥渋llegal鈥� search by personnel from the German frigate Hamburg. The German ship is part of the European Union鈥檚 Irini naval mission, which is enforcing an arms embargo against Libya.
German officials say that the order to board the ship came from Irini鈥檚 headquarters in Rome and that Turkey protested while the team was on board. The search was then ended.
Turkey says the search was 鈥渦nauthorized and conducted by force.鈥�
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer backed the German crew鈥檚 actions.
鈥淚t is important to me to make really clear that the Bundeswehr soldiers behaved completely correctly,鈥� she said during an appearance in Berlin. 鈥淭hey did what is asked of them in the framework of the European Irini mandate.鈥�
鈥淭hat there is this debate with the Turkish side points to one of the fundamental problems of this European mission,鈥� Kramp-Karrenbauer added, without elaborating. 鈥淏ut it is very important to me to say clearly here that there are no grounds for these accusations that are now being made against the soldiers.鈥�

This was the second incident between Turkey and naval forces from a NATO ally enforcing an arms blockade against Libya.
In June, NATO launched an investigation over an incident between Turkish warships and a French naval vessel in the Mediterranean, after France said one of its frigates was 鈥渓it up鈥� three times by Turkish naval targeting radar when it tried to approach a Turkish civilian ship suspected of involvement in arms trafficking.
Turkey supports a UN-backed government in Tripoli against rival forces based in the country鈥檚 east. It has complained that the EU naval operation focuses its efforts too much on the Tripoli administration and turns a blind eye to weapons sent to the eastern-based forces.
In Ankara, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Irini was 鈥渇lawed from the onset.鈥�
鈥淚t is not based on firm international legal foundations,鈥� Akar said. He renewed Turkey鈥檚 criticism of the German ship鈥檚 actions.
鈥淭he incident was against international laws and practices. It was wrong,鈥� he said.
Kramp-Karrenbauer stressed that 鈥淭urkey is still an important partner for us in NATO.鈥� Turkey being outside the military alliance would make the situation even more difficult, she argued, and Turkish soldiers are 鈥渁bsolutely reliable partners鈥� in NATO missions.
But she conceded that Turkey poses 鈥渁 big challenge鈥� because of how its domestic politics have developed and because it has its 鈥渙wn agenda, which is difficult to reconcile with European questions in particular.鈥�