Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

German defense minister rejects Turkey complaint over search

Germany’s defense minister has rejected Turkish complaints over the search of a Turkish freighter in the Mediterranean Sea by a German frigate participating in a European mission

Via AP news wire
Tuesday 24 November 2020 08:40 EST
Germany Turkey
Germany Turkey (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Germany's defense minister on Tuesday rejected Turkey s 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's 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 “illegal” search by personnel from the German frigate Hamburg. The German ship is part of the European Union's Irini naval mission, which is enforcing an arms embargo against Libya.

German officials say that the order to board the ship came from Irini’s headquarters in Rome and that Turkey protested while the team was on board. The search was then ended.

Turkey says the search was “unauthorized and conducted by force.”

German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer backed the German crew's actions.

“It is important to me to make really clear that the Bundeswehr soldiers behaved completely correctly,” she said during an appearance in Berlin. “They did what is asked of them in the framework of the European Irini mandate.”

“That there is this debate with the Turkish side points to one of the fundamental problems of this European mission,” Kramp-Karrenbauer added, without elaborating. “But 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.”

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 “lit up” 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 U.N.-backed government in Tripoli against rival forces based in the country’s 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 “flawed from the onset.”

“It is not based on firm international legal foundations,” Akar said. He renewed Turkey's criticism of the German ship's actions.

“The incident was against international laws and practices. It was wrong,” he said.

Kramp-Karrenbauer stressed that “Turkey is still an important partner for us in NATO.” Turkey being outside the military alliance would make the situation even more difficult, she argued, and Turkish soldiers are “absolutely reliable partners” in NATO missions.

But she conceded that Turkey poses “a big challenge” because of how its domestic politics have developed and because it has its “own agenda, which is difficult to reconcile with European questions in particular.”

___

Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in