Turkish parliament head condemns search of Turkish ship

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s parliament speaker on Monday denounced the illegal search of a private Turkish-flagged ship carrying humanitarian aid to Libya by a German frigate.

"I strongly condemn the intervention by a German frigate on a Turkish ship sailing from Turkey to Libya solely for commercial purposes," Mustafa Sentop said on Twitter.

"This is a modern barbarism," he added.

Turkey will resort to remedies to hold accountable the perpetrators of this violation of international laws, he added.

Earlier Monday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry also decried the illegal search by the German frigate, which served under a Greek-commanded EU naval mission enforcing a UN arms embargo on Libya.

Turkey has long argued that that the embargo is carried out in a manner biased to warlord Khalifa Haftar.

The ministry said the Turkish vessel was only carrying paint, paint materials, and humanitarian aid to Libya’s port of Misrata, and did not violate the UN arms embargo on the country.

Libya has been torn by a civil war since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

A new government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement have failed in the face of attacks by Haftar.

Turkey supports the country's legitimate government, based in the capital Tripoli.