Turkey has vetoed an already ongoing arms embargo control.
And accuses Germany of using violence.
Berlin / Ankara / Brussels - Despite the threat of
punitive measures,
Turkey is
provoking
serious new tensions with
Germany
and the EU.
Ankara, for
example, stopped
a control of the
UN arms embargo
against
Libya
on Sunday
.
The
Bundestag
sharply criticized the
Turkish government
.
There was a warning from Brussels that there might be new
sanctions
against
Turkey
after the upcoming EU summit on December 10th and 11th
.
The
Turkey
replied that the aborted
deployment of the Bundeswehr
had been carried out "without authority and with the use of force" and therefore unacceptable.
It is a "hypocritical and illegal treatment" of Turkish
cargo ships
on the way to Libya.
According to the
operational command, the
operation on Sunday evening took place
around 200 kilometers north of the
Libyan city of Benghazi
.
A suspicious cargo ship had been checked.
A few hours later the
veto against the control of
the container freighter was received.
Then the
German soldiers had
to
end
the
mission
.
The crew of the
cargo ship
would have
let
the
soldiers
stay on board until sunrise, since returning to the
frigate "Hamburg"
would have been risky.
Otherwise, according to the mission, the crew cooperated during the entire inspection.
US Arms Embargo Control: Why Did Turkey Veto?
It is now questionable why the
NATO country Turkey used
the
veto option
against such a control.
One possibility is that the "Rosaline A" was actually transporting
weapons
or other
unauthorized goods
.
According to the Turkish
Foreign Ministry
, only paint and relief supplies were loaded.
Another possibility is that the
government in Ankara
wanted to express its resistance to the EU operation "Irini", which is seen as partisan.
The
Bundeswehr control
mission was carried out as part of "Irini".
Their
Greek commander
himself gave the order for boarding.
The reason for the tense relationship between
Ankara and Athens
is Turkish
gas exploration
in the eastern Mediterranean.
Also,
Greece and Cyprus
brought with regard to the
EU summit renewed sanctions
against
Turkey
from this week.
The
Turkish Foreign Ministry
said that
compensation should be demanded
because of the
Bundeswehr
deployment.
During the
inspection
there was a body search of the entire crew, including the
master
.
A Turkish news website had published a video of a
boarding soldier
escorting a crew member with his hands above his head.
He is having a heated discussion with another man.
US arms embargo control: operational command rejects criticism
Criticism of the behavior of the
German soldiers
has now been rejected by the
operational command
in Potsdam.
A spokesman said all regulations had been followed.
The
soldiers
searched
the crew for
weapons
to ensure their own protection.
Accordingly,
Turkey was
also informed that the
ship
would be searched.
According to the
rules of engagement,
four hours without feedback would be
considered tacit consent.
Why is Turkey courted in spite of the broken arms embargo in Libya?
Answers in the thread from @LostinEU https://t.co/7sNq0pQH3L
- Weltreporter (@weltreporter) November 23, 2020
The reason for the
arms embargo control
was that
civil war has raged
in
Libya
since the overthrow of
long-term ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi
in 2011.
The government troops are supported by
Turkey
, their opponent, General Khalifa Haftar, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.
The parties last agreed on a
ceasefire
at the end of October
, compliance with which is still uncertain.
The crew of the German
frigate “Hamburg”
had already
checked a tanker from the United Arab Emirates
in
September
and discovered kerosene that
falls
under the
arms embargo
.
UN arms embargo: resolution of the Libya conflict also important for Germany, France and Italy
There
have recently been new
EU sanctions
against
companies
that have provided the transport of
war material
.
The EU wanted to prove that it - contrary to
Turkey's
claim
- only
wants to prevent
arms delivery to Libya
, but not to the opposing militia leaders.
For Germany, France and Italy, a solution to the
Libya conflict is
also important because the chaotic conditions favor the business of smugglers who
illegally bring
migrants
across the Mediterranean to Europe.
The actions of
Turkey
wurdeaus the
Bundestag
on Monday sharply criticized.
"It is absurd that
Turkey
tries again and again
to impede
the
control of its ships
," criticized the defense policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.
“If we allow that, we can end the mission.” She asked the
Federal Foreign Minister
(SPD) to comment on this immediately.
Left-wing politician Sevim Dagdelen called on the German government to finally end the
arms deliveries
to "
Libya
arsonists
" like
Turkey
.
Shortly before it became known: Since 2004,
Germany
has been
exporting
warships
or parts of
ships
worth 1.5 billion euros to Turkey.
Even
Greece
has
Germany
recently called for the
export ban
on
warships
expand.
Due to the tensions between the
NATO countries Turkey
and
Greece
over
natural gas
, such
arms
exports are currently particularly controversial.
The
federal government is
currently only preventing the delivery of
armaments
that are intended for the war in Syria.
However, there are no restrictions on goods for maritime use.
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.