Home » World » The command of the European naval mission occupied a Turkish ship. The event caused a dispute with Ankara – ČT24 – Czech Television

The command of the European naval mission occupied a Turkish ship. The event caused a dispute with Ankara – ČT24 – Czech Television

On November 22, the crew of a Turkish cargo ship two hundred kilometers off the coast of North Africa shot a German frigate and a helicopter with a Bundeswehr intervention unit.

Footage from an industrial camera then captured what was happening on the captain’s bridge. The troops were tasked with searching the vessel on suspicion of carrying weapons to Libya.

The event did not last long

But the unit failed to search the entire ship. After a while came the information that Ankara did not agree with the inspection. According to the rules of the IRINI naval mission, the soldiers had to interrupt the action and leave the vessel. They found no weapons on board.

“Operation IRINI is requesting an inspection. If the state responsible for the ship says it does not agree with it, then the inspection cannot continue, “explained Peter Stano, a spokesman for the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs.

The Turkish government claims that it did not consent to the inspection, thus violating international law. The European Mission Command refuses, saying that Ankara had reacted for more than four hours, and when it did not arrive, it was given the green light.

“The Bundeswehr soldiers behaved perfectly correctly. However, this debate with Turkey points to the basic problems of this European mission, “said German Minister of Defense Annegret Krampová-Karrenbauerová.


According to critics, the current incident once again shows not only the limits of the IRINI naval mission, but the arms embargo against Libya in general. The UN has called it completely ineffective in the past. It convicted a number of actors of its violation. In addition to Turkey and Qatar, which support the government in Tripoli, there are also Russia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which are on the other side of the conflict.

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