The Republic of Turkey today, i.e., Tuesday, September 22, 2020 slammed the European Union (E.U.) for imposing sanctions on a Turkish firm – Avrasya Shipping and accused the E.U. of double standards and being biased towards the former.
The new sanctions mean that Turkish firm is cut off from European finance markets and cannot do business with anyone in the bloc. It also froze the assets of Avrasya Shipping. The E.U. has a naval mission operating in waters off Libya which ensures arms embargo on Libya is adhered and violators are punished.
Earlier on September 21, 2020, the E.U. accused the Avrasya Shipping of breaking a United Nations (U.N.) imposed arms embargo and smuggling weapons to Libya. In addition to this, E.U. has also imposed sanctions on 2 Libyan people, Kazakhstan based Sigma Airlines and Jordan’s Med Wave Shipping.
It is to be noted that Libya has endured almost a decade of violent chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed the Former Dictator – Moamer Kadhafi. In February 2011, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed an arms embargo on Libya, meaning that movement of arms to-and-from Libya is strictly prohibited. The arms embargo was imposed in reaction to gross and systematic violation of human rights, including the repression of peaceful demonstrators by the Libyan Government in the weeks preceding the sanctions.
A Statement from E.U. read, “These new listings show the EU’s strategic use of its sanctions regime and ability to react to developments on the ground in support of the political process and to deter past and present perpetrators from further violations.”
However, Turkey has denied the accusations and submits that the ship was carrying humanitarian aid. Turkey says that E.U.’s Operation Irini that aims to prevent breaching the arms embargo to Libya awards warlord Khalifa Haftar and punishes U.N.-backed Government of National Accord.
Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar is a Libyan-American soldier and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). He is the Commander of the Armed Forces loyal to the elected legislative body, the Libyan House of Representatives. Haftar was the effective Head of the de facto “Tobruk” system of Government of much of the east and some of the south and west parts of Libya during the Second Libyan Civil War. The 2019 Libyan local elections were prevented from taking place on 27 April 2019, during his leadership, in Sabratha and Sorman.
Accusing E.U. of being biased, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey issued a statement which read, “[The decision] Clearly indicates EU’s biased approach while our country provided aid to the legitimate government described as a violation of the embargo and ignoring countries and companies especially United Arab Emirates sending weapons against UNSC resolution to Haftar by land and air,” the statement said.
It further read, “If the EU wants security and stability in the region, it should give up on its biased attitude and act in consultation and cooperation with Turkey.”
Separately, Turkey may also face E.U. sanctions due to a dispute with Greece and Cyprus over ownership of natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey also said that at a time when efforts are made to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, such sanctions by E.U. is extremely unfortunate.
