Scandal in the Mediterranean: Turkey forces the cancellation of the German federal armed forces

According to the Bundeswehr, Ankara forced the deployment of German marines on Sunday to control the United Nations arms embargo against Libya. The acute criticism came from the Bundestag. In Brussels it was reported that the next EU summit on 10 and 11 December will discuss possible further punitive measures against Turkey.

The Ankara government, on the other hand, denounced the “hypocritical and illegal treatment” of Turkish merchant ships bound for Libya. The blocked deployment of German soldiers was carried out “without authorization and with the use of force” and was in no way accepted, the foreign ministry in Ankara said on Monday.

During the operation on Sunday evening, according to the operations command, German soldiers boarded a suspicious merchant ship about 200 kilometers north of the Libyan city of Benghazi to check the cargo. A few hours later, however, Turkey, as a flag state, vetoed the search for the container ship cargo. The German soldiers therefore had to cancel the mission.

The crew of the Turkish container ship had been cooperative throughout the entire mission, according to the mission command. The crew of the merchant ship also allowed German soldiers to remain on board until dawn after the search was interrupted to avoid the risk of returning to the frigate “Hamburg” at night.

At first it was unclear whether the NATO country Turkey used its veto option against the search because “Rosaline A” did indeed have weapons or other prohibited goods on board. It is also conceivable that they simply wanted to express their resistance to the EU operation “Irini”, considered partisan, and in which the soldiers of the Bundeswehr were deployed.

This could also be supported by the fact that the boarding order was given by the Greek commander of operation Irini. Due to Turkish gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, the relationship between Ankara and Athens is currently extremely strained. Together with Cyprus, Greece also assured that further sanctions against Turkey will be discussed at the EU summit in December.

According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, “Rosaline A” loaded only paint and relief supplies. Due to the use of German soldiers, compensation should now be sought. The entire crew, including the commander, was forcibly searched. A video posted by a Turkish news site shows soldiers climbing aboard as they escort a crew member holding his hands over his head and having a heated argument with another man.

On the contrary, any criticism of the actions of the German soldiers was rejected by the operational command in Potsdam. The boarding team acted at all times legally and in accordance with regulations, a spokesperson said. Searching for crew weapons is part of the standard procedure for protecting soldiers.

Turkey was therefore also informed of plans to search for the ship. Only after she did not react for four hours was this considered tacit approval for boarding under the rules of engagement.

The EU has launched the operation to control the arms embargo due to the civil war in Libya following the overthrow of long-term governor Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011. Government troops are supported by Turkey, their opponent, the General Khalifa Haftar, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Russia. More recently, the warring parties agreed on a ceasefire in late October. However, it’s unclear whether it will hold up.

In September, the occupation of the German frigate “Hamburg” found that kerosene was subject to an arms embargo during the inspection of an oil tanker from the United Arab Emirates.

Furthermore, EU sanctions have recently been imposed on companies that have supplied ships, aircraft or other logistics for the transport of war material. Specifically, these are three companies from Turkey, Jordan and Kazakhstan. By sanctioning companies in several countries, the EU also wanted to make it clear that it not only wants to prevent arms deliveries to the Libyan government, as Turkey claims, but not to the enemy militia leader Haftar.

A solution to the conflict in Libya is also important for Germany, France and Italy, because the chaotic conditions favor the activity of smugglers who illegally bring migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe.