Turkish President Recep Erdogan has blamed Greece and Cyprus after German commandos working on behalf of the European Union boarded a Turkish ship believed to be illegally transporting arms to Libya. The mission took place as part of 'Operation Irini' and was backed up by NATO, of which Greece, Turkey and Germany are all members.
The Turkish President raged at the seizure and made a statement to his party's deputies outlining his anger, he said:
"Despite the provocations by Greece and the [the Republic of Cyprus] on the eastern Mediterranean issue, we have reacted with patience and restraint. However, despite our patient and restrained attitude, they recently raided our freighter that was transporting cargo to Libya. This was not in line with the international law of the sea. Once again, the captain of the ship that conducted the operation was a Greek national. When they boarded the ship, they harassed the crew."
At no time did the Turkish leader at all claim that the ship was not in fact carrying illegal weaponry to the war-torn country.
The German Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Andrea Sasse, said of the action:
"Germany has made it clear that we feel that Turkey's behaviour is problematic in many ways. We raise this regularly in Turkey. But we must reiterate that we have taken a position on Turkey's behaviour many times. Overall, Turkey's behaviour is on the agenda of the December European Council."
Turkey has been repeatedly accused of funnelling weapons to the internationally-recognised government in Tripoli which is still fighting a 9 year long civil war against insurgents in the East of the country. The insurgents are backed by Egypt, France and the United Arab Emirates. It is believed that the Libyan government, backed by Turkey, has jihadi and Islamic extremist fighters within their ranks.
The United Nations has blocked any nation from sending weapons to Libya. A UN diplomat said of the situation:
"The arms embargo remains totally ineffective. In the case of those member states directly supporting the conflict, the violations are extensive, blatant and with complete disregard for the sanctions measures."
It is thought that 9,000 people in Libya have died in the war since 2014, a war that broke out in the power vacuum that was left after the deposing of long-time Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
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