Operation Irini

The European Union's solidarity often gets abused as the most recent example of the interception of a Turkish-flagged merchant ship by the bloc's military Operation Irini has shown, Turkey's top diplomat said on Dec. 2.

Turkey's top diplomat on Dec. 1 attended a virtual meeting of NATO foreign ministers, he said on Twitter.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said they talked about several issues, including the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, and the recent unlawful search of a Turkish-flagged ship.

With Ankara's stance seen as nothing but an effort to buy time with no real intention for a candid dialogue, Athens is expected to insist on a hard line in favor of sanctions during the upcoming European Council on December 10 and 11.

According to Athens, Ankara's behavior over the previous five days in particular leaves no room for optimism.

Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation Friday into the search of a Turkish commercial freighter by the crew of a German frigate participating in a European Union mission to enforce an arms embargo on Libya.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation ex officio for the Turkish-flagged commercial ship named Roseline-A which was stopped and searched in the eastern Mediterranean Sea by the EU's military mission Irini.

In what was seen as an attempt to push the narrative of Athens fueling tensions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Greece for the attempted search by German marines of a Libya-bound Turkish ship for weapons earlier this week.

Ankara will take necessary steps in every field against the EU's Operation Irini over the illegal search of a Turkish-flagged vessel bound for Libya, Turkey's National Security Council said on Nov. 25. 

Turkey's top diplomat on Nov. 24 accused a German frigate of violating international law when it stopped and searched a commercial vessel without the consent of its flag-state or its captain.

"It is a violation of international law to embark on trade ships like pirates," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters in the capital Ankara.

The envoys of the European Union, Italy and Germany in the Turkish capital Ankara were summoned to the country's Foreign Ministry on Nov. 23 in the wake of a controversial search of a Turkish-flagged ship by an EU naval mission a day earlier.

Turkey has protested a German frigate deployed under Operation Irini by the European Union that carried out an "unauthorized" search on a Turkish cargo ship in the eastern Mediterranean, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Libya.