Turkey will search a German-owned ship over allegations it is carrying weapons to Syria, officials said Apr 18. The Atlantic Cruiser was halted in the Mediterranean last week after its owners received information — allegedly from Syrian government defectors — that it may be carrying weapons. Turkey enforces an arms embargo against Syria’s government because of its yearlong crackdown on a popular uprising, which is estimated to have left more than 9,000 people dead.
Neither the German owner of the ship, W. Bockstiegel Reederei, nor a Ukrainian company that chartered it had any indications it was carrying any “weapons, munitions or military equipment,” according to a statement from the owner. According to the company’s records, the shipment for Syria consisted of parts for a thermal power station project. It did say, however, that on April 13 it received an e-mail from an organization calling itself the “Syrian Revolution Naval Forces” claiming the ship was carrying weapons for Syria.