The German frigate’s interception of a Libya-bound commercial Turkish vessel in the Eastern Mediterranean resembled a counterterrorism operation and significantly differed from a previous incident a week earlier, according to a comparison of the two incidents in photos and video footage.
The same team from the EU-led Operation Irini had boarded a Panama-flagged vessel a week earlier and displayed a relatively gentle approach in comparison to their aggressive manner with the Turkish crew.
Last Wednesday, the same mission inspected the Panama-flagged Serrano vessel, which departed from Alexandria, Egypt and was heading to Tobruk, Libya.
On Sunday, the German frigate, led by a Greek commander, unlawfully stopped the vessel Roseline A south of the Peloponnese peninsula and searched the vessel without receiving permission from Turkish authorities, violating international law.
Turkey condemned the incident, saying that Operation Irini is a biased mission that targets Turkey and the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya.
