Turkey Opens Probe Into German Search of Its Libya-bound Vessel

 Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)
Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)
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Turkey Opens Probe Into German Search of Its Libya-bound Vessel

 Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)
Frigate “Hamburg” runs out of the harbor for a five-month Mediterranean mission as part of IRINI operation, August 4, 2020 (Getty Images)

Turkey has opened a probe Friday into the suspension of its freighter Rosaline A in the Mediterranean Sea by marines from the German frigate Hamburg, part of the European Union's Operation Irini, which is tasked to enforce a UN embargo to stop weapons reaching conflict-torn Libya.

In a statement issued on Friday, the public prosecutor in Ankara said that although there was no authorization to search the commercial vessel in open waters on November 22, it was unlawfully searched, adding that it “opened an investigation” over the incident.

The German frigate Hamburg had boarded the freighter after orders from the mission's headquarters in Rome on suspicion it carried weapons to Libya.

The search operation was suspended as Turkey disapproved Irini’s “unilateral” action, saying the search was “unauthorized and conducted by force” and insisted that its objections prior to the search were ignored.

Irini later confirmed that the commercial Turkish cargo vessel was carrying food and paint supplies to Libya in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey’s National Security Council (MGK) chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoaan expressed Turkey’s disapproval and condemnation of Irini’s “unilateral” action and it reiterated the country’s determination to take the necessary steps against it.

Operation IRINI is a concrete contribution to international efforts to help to end the conflict in Libya.

In a related development, German media said a classified EU document revealed illegal arms cargo bound for Libya. It explained that a secret EU report cited by the German news agency DPA on Friday, indicated the Roseline A had long been watched on suspicion of making illegal arms shipments.

In a report for United Nations experts, EU-Irini military analysts had previously spotted military aircraft being unloaded in the Libyan port of Misrata in satellite images, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Operation IRINI said in a statement issued last week that it had reasonable grounds to suspect that it could be acting in violation of the UN arms embargo.

“Operation IRINI boarded the vessel and inspected it in accordance with internationally agreed procedures including NATO procedures and operation IRINI’s boarding team acted with the highest degree of professionalism,” it said.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.