ISTANBUL: Turkey accused the German navy on Monday of conducting an “unauthorized” search on a Turkish-flagged cargo vessel in a bid to enforce a United Nations arms embargo on Libya.
But the European Union’s Operation Irini — tasked with halting arms shipments to the strife-torn north African country — said it had made a “good faith” effort to get Turkey’s consent for the inspection and aborted it as soon as Ankara made its objections clear.
The Turkish foreign ministry said Germany’s Hamburg frigate stopped and searched the Roseline A commercial vessel without permission on Sunday evening off the coast of Greece’s Peloponnesus peninsula.
Footage filmed by the vessel’s crew and aired repeatedly on Turkish television showed a quarrel between crew members and armed German soldiers who landed on the ship from a helicopter.
The Turkish foreign ministry said the vessel was carrying paint and humanitarian supplies headed to the Libyan port of Misrata.
“This intervention was carried out with the consent of neither our country as the flag state nor the ship’s captain,” the Turkish ministry said.
“I am strongly condemning this unlawful intervention,” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay added.
Ankara on Monday summoned the EU and Italian ambassadors as well as the German embassy’s charge d’affaires to the foreign ministry, conveying a diplomatic note protesting the “unauthorized” inspection, the foreign ministry said.
The action was “against international law,” the ministry said in the note, adding that Turkey reserved its right to compensation.
But both the operation’s European command and officials in Berlin said Turkey raised its objections only after the German soldiers had boarded the vessel.
“Everything went exactly according to protocol,” a German foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
Operation Irini said in statement that it had “made good faith efforts to seek (Turkey’s) consent.”
“When (Turkey) made it clear that it denied the permission to inspect the vessel, Operation Irini suspended the activities during which no evidence of illicit material was found,” it said.
Operation Irini’s official website says the mission reserves the right to board ships without permission when conducting so-called “friendly approaches.”
Libya has endured almost a decade of violence since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
Turkey backs the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in western Libya and views the EU mission as biased in favor of the eastern command — backed by the United Arab Emirates as well as Russia and France.
The warring sides agreed a cease-fire deal last month that paves the way for national elections on December 24.
But the process remains fragile and four EU powers involved in efforts to end the conflict issued a joint statement Monday threatening sanctions against “all Libyan and international parties” standing in the way of peace.
Operation Irini said the aborted inspection of the Turkish vessel was the fifth since the mission was officially launched on March 31.
Turkey last sparred with EU powers over inspections when a French frigate under NATO command sought in June to search a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship.
Paris then complained that one of its ships was subjected to radar targeting by Turkish frigates while trying to inspect the cargo.
Ankara denied the charge.
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Turkey blasts ‘unauthorized’ German search of Libya-bound ship
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Turkey blasts ‘unauthorized’ German search of Libya-bound ship
- The Turkish foreign ministry said Germany’s Hamburg frigate stopped and searched the Roseline A commercial vessel without permission off the coast of Greece’s Peloponnesus peninsula
- Footage filmed by the vessel’s crew and aired on Turkish television showed a quarrel between crew members and armed German soldiers who landed on the ship from a helicopter
King Charles calls for ‘reconciliation’ in Christmas speech
LONDON: Britain’s King Charles III called for “compassion and reconciliation” at a time of “division” across the world in his Christmas Day message Thursday.
The 77-year-old monarch said he found it “enormously encouraging” how people of different faiths had a “shared longing for peace.”
Charles praised individuals who risked their lives to save others in situations of violence, including those caught up in the killings at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach in Australia this month.
“Individuals and communities have displayed spontaneous bravery, instinctively placing themselves in harm’s way to defend others,” said the king whose words were accompanied by images of events at Bondi.
Eighty years after the end of World War II, the king said the courage of servicemen and women and the way communities came together after the conflict carried “a timeless message for us all.”
“These are the values which have shaped our country,” he said.
“As we hear of division both at home and abroad, they are the values of which we must never lose sight,” Charles said in a message recorded at Westminster Abbey and broadcast nationally.
No mention of royal tribulations
“With the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that right triumphs over wrong. It seems to me that we need to cherish the values of compassion and reconciliation the way our Lord lived and died.”
In October, Charles became the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with a pope since a schism with Rome 500 years ago, in a service led by Leo XIV at the Vatican. He called it a “historic moment of spiritual unity.”
A few days earlier Charles met survivors of a deadly attack on a synagogue and members of the Jewish community in the northern English city of Manchester.
This is the second year running that the king has made his festive address away from a royal residence.
Last year he spoke from a former hospital chapel as he thanked medical staff for supporting the royal family in a year in which he announced his cancer diagnosis.
This year, Charles did not make any reference to his battle with the illness, nor did he mention his younger brother Andrew who in October was stripped of his royal titles over his links to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The message did feature images of his son and heir Prince William, as well as his grandson George.
The Christmas song that ended the message was sung by a Ukrainian choir formed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of their country.
The king and other members of the royal family, including Andrew’s daughters, attended a Christmas service at St. Mary Magdalene Church on Charles’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The 77-year-old monarch said he found it “enormously encouraging” how people of different faiths had a “shared longing for peace.”
Charles praised individuals who risked their lives to save others in situations of violence, including those caught up in the killings at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach in Australia this month.
“Individuals and communities have displayed spontaneous bravery, instinctively placing themselves in harm’s way to defend others,” said the king whose words were accompanied by images of events at Bondi.
Eighty years after the end of World War II, the king said the courage of servicemen and women and the way communities came together after the conflict carried “a timeless message for us all.”
“These are the values which have shaped our country,” he said.
“As we hear of division both at home and abroad, they are the values of which we must never lose sight,” Charles said in a message recorded at Westminster Abbey and broadcast nationally.
No mention of royal tribulations
“With the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that right triumphs over wrong. It seems to me that we need to cherish the values of compassion and reconciliation the way our Lord lived and died.”
In October, Charles became the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with a pope since a schism with Rome 500 years ago, in a service led by Leo XIV at the Vatican. He called it a “historic moment of spiritual unity.”
A few days earlier Charles met survivors of a deadly attack on a synagogue and members of the Jewish community in the northern English city of Manchester.
This is the second year running that the king has made his festive address away from a royal residence.
Last year he spoke from a former hospital chapel as he thanked medical staff for supporting the royal family in a year in which he announced his cancer diagnosis.
This year, Charles did not make any reference to his battle with the illness, nor did he mention his younger brother Andrew who in October was stripped of his royal titles over his links to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The message did feature images of his son and heir Prince William, as well as his grandson George.
The Christmas song that ended the message was sung by a Ukrainian choir formed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of their country.
The king and other members of the royal family, including Andrew’s daughters, attended a Christmas service at St. Mary Magdalene Church on Charles’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
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