By John Lee.
Turkey has reportedly stopped an inspection by German forces of a suspicious vessel off the Libyan coast on Sunday.
According to Politico, the German naval vessel "Hamburg" (pictured), which is in the Mediterranean as part of the EU's Operation Irini to enforce the U.N. arms embargo on Libya, stopped the Turkish vessel "Rosaline A" about 200 kilometers off the coast.
A spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry said that German marines boarded the ship via helicopter, but had to abort their mission after Turkey intervened diplomatically.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said "the intervention was conducted without the consent of either Turkey, as the flag state, or the master of the vessel ... upon vague suspicion and lasted until after midnight and was only terminated upon persistent objections of Turkey".
(Sources: Politico, France 24, Turkish Foreign Ministry)
