Fri. Nov 22nd, 2024

Swedish website Nordic Monitor mentioned that: “Turkish intelligence has been known to secure contracts for purchasing and shipping arms to jihadists in other countries has been flagged in a United Nations’ investigation as an arms smuggler to a client in Libya.”

According to a report submitted to the UN Security Council on September 15, 2023 by the Panel of Experts on Libya, Turkish company Capra Arms Savunma ve Silah Sanayi Ticaret Limited Şirketi (Capra) sent 12,000 pistols in violation of sanctions imposed by the UN. The pistols were seized by authorities in Misrata on March 4, 2023 after they discovered the weapons hidden among household items.

The cargo was originally intended for a consignee in Saint Kitts and Nevis but was diverted to Misrata en route at the request of Capra. During transit, the initial export and loading documentation was modified, and a list of blank firing pistols was omitted from the new documents. Capra did not respond to UN investigators seeking clarification and additional information.

The arms were loaded onto the Belitaki container ship on November 10, 2022 in the Turkish port of Mersin and arrived in Libya’s Misrata on February 2, 2023, following an extended voyage that took the ship to Spain, Colombia and Malta. When the shipment was loaded, Turkish shipper Capra listed a mailbox client located in Saint Kitts and Nevis, an island state in the eastern Caribbean. However, the destination was changed in the course of the container’s transshipment.

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