Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions to Syria reappears near Turkish port
A Russian ship suspected of delivering munitions to Syria in violation of an EU arms embargo after an unscheduled stop in Cyprus has anchored off Turkey’s coast, officials said Saturday.
Foreign Ministry official Selcuk Unal said Turkish coast guard and customs officials would board the Chariot before allowing it to dock at the port of Iskenderun.
Unal said the ship left the Syrian port of Tartus early Saturday and reached Iskenderun later the same day. He said the ship’s captain confirmed that the ship had arrived from Syria. But it’s unclear what type of cargo the St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship may have offloaded at Tartus.
The Chariot initially made its way to the Cypriot port of Limassol on Tuesday after running low on fuel because of rough seas. It’s arrival at the European Union member country meant the vessel would be subject to the embargo the bloc imposed to protest Syria’s crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s rule.
Customs officials inspecting the vessel found that it was carrying “dangerous cargo” inside four containers that Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said was of a type that necessitated its seizure under EU embargo rules.
A Cypriot official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the containers carried a shipment of bullets.