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New escalation? Erdogan stops Bundeswehr control in the Mediterranean: Germany speaks of "absurdity"

2020-11-24T16:01:15.689Z


Turkey has vetoed an already ongoing arms embargo control. And accuses Germany of using violence.


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.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-11-24

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