BERLIN – Germany's defense minister on Tuesday rejected Turkey's complaints over the search of a Turkish freighter in the Mediterranean Sea by a German frigate participating in a European mission, insisting that German sailors acted correctly.Sunday's incident prompted Turkey to summon diplomats representing the European Union, Germany and Italy and assert that the Libya-bound freighter Rosaline-A was subjected to an “illegal” search by personnel from the German frigate Hamburg.
The German ship is part of the European Union's Irini naval mission, which is enforcing an arms embargo against Libya.German officials say that the order to board the ship came from Irini’s headquarters in Rome and that Turkey protested while the team was on board..