Turkey has again blocked the EU’s monitoring of the United Nations weapons embargo against Libya, reports said on Thursday.
In February, Turkey’s foreign ministry in Ankara vetoed the search of two merchant ships suspected of being used for illegal transports to the war-torn North African country, dpa reported.
Both were Turkish-flagged and therefore not allowed to be inspected against the wishes of Turkish authorities.
In an earlier incident in November, Turkey forced the abandonment of a search of a container ship that had already begun by German marines and subsequently accused the German government and the EU of illegal behaviour.
The EU’s Irini monitoring mission was established in May 2020 and aims to stabilise war-torn Libya and support the UN-led political peace process.
Libya has been engulfed by civil war since the overthrow of long-term ruler Moamar Gaddafi in 2011, with the conflict increasingly turning into a proxy war.
Turkey supports the government of Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, which is vying for power against military strongman General Khalifa Haftar and militias supporting him.
The government in Ankara fears that the EU operation in the Mediterranean could be to the detriment of Serraj’s government, according to observers. (dpa/NAN)