On November 23, local time, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement protesting the search of Turkish merchant ships by German warships.
The statement stated that the Turkish merchant ship “Roselin-A” departed from the port of Amballi in Istanbul, Turkey to Misrata in Libya. It was a ship carrying humanitarian relief supplies. At 17:45 on November 22, armed men from the German warship “Hamburg” boarded the “Roselin-A” and conducted a search operation.
The statement stated that the search was stopped without the consent of the Turkish government and the captain, and was only suspended due to continued protests from the Turkish side. The armed personnel left the “Roseline-A” on the morning of the 23rd.
It is reported that the operation of the German warship “Hamburg” is part of the EU’s “Operation Irini”.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it regretted the seizure of the ship, saying that the Turkish ship did not violate the requirements of the arms embargo, and at the same time protested “this kind of unauthorized and crude behavior”, believing that the EU “Operation Irini” is biased action.
On the 23rd, the German government stated that it was “concerned” about Turkey’s suspension of the German navy’s search of a ship suspected of delivering weapons to Libya.
The European Union launched a maritime operation code-named “Irini” in the eastern Mediterranean on March 31 to prevent weapons from reaching Libyan belligerents.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons the EU ambassador and the German Chargé d’Affaires to protest the search of Turkish ships
On the evening of November 23, local time, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the EU ambassador to Turkey, the Italian ambassador to Turkey and the Chargé d’affaires of the German Embassy in Turkey to protest the EU’s “Irini” operation to search Turkish merchant ships without the permission of the Turkish government” Roselin-A”.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it had submitted a diplomatic note to the envoys summoned. The note stated that the search violated international law and the Turkish side reserves the right to demand compensation.
