The Italian ambassador and the German chargé d'affaires in Ankara have been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry in connection with the inspection of a Turkish cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the EU mission to monitor compliance with the arms embargo in Libya, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) The Italian ambassador and the German chargé d'affaires in Ankara have been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry in connection with the inspection of a Turkish cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the EU mission to monitor compliance with the arms embargo in Libya, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said earlier that Turkey was protesting in connection with the inspection of its cargo vessel MV Roseline A in the Mediterranean by the crew of German warship Hamburg.
"Today, the Italian ambassador and the German charge d'affaires were summoned to our ministry, where a protest against the inspection of the merchant vessel MV Roseline A without our country's permission was expressed to them. They were given notes stating the illegality of these actions and our rights to compensation," the source said.
On March 31, the European Union launched a new naval mission, IRINI, to monitor compliance with the UN arms embargo on Libya. According to the EU, the military mission stops the smuggling of weapons and natural resources to Libya. Europeans inform the UN of all violations of the embargo. The EU uses satellites and aerial surveillance to track illicit arms shipments across land and air borders. The mandate of the IRINI mission lasts until March 31, 2021. The EU hopes that the cessation of illegal arms supplies to the parties to the conflict in Libya will contribute to peace process in this country. In early June, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the arms embargo to Libya for a year.
However, IRINI has been criticized on several occasions for failing to obstruct arms shipments to Libya. In mid-June, European warships participating in Operation IRINI tried to inspect a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship, which was guarded by Turkish Navy ships. The Turkish side did not allow to inspect the vessel.
