Turkey works hard to secure its future in the Mediterranean, especially after signing agreements with the Libyan government under Fayez al-Sarraj and ratified under the auspices of the United Nations. The Sarraj government is said to have close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Through these agreements, Turkey is working to secure its interests solely in the Eastern Mediterranean, and additionally wants to secure a foothold on the African coast as a prologue for President Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman empire plans.
Information exclusively given to MENA Media Monitor in Italy, indicate a new scandal related with Turkey. According to that information, the Italian Navy stopped a ship belonging to the civil arm of the Lebanese Hezbollah, full of Turkish weapons and firearms, directed to the Libyan port of Misrata. With the name Bana, it ships under the flag of Lebanon and is registered under the Lebanese company Abu Mari Group, owned by Merhi Abu Merhi. The company is on the US sanctions list.
Merhi is one of the most prominent businessmen in Lebanon, owner of several shopping centers in the country. Regarding his accused relationship with Hezbollah, it is rumored that the terror group received funds from the Abu Mari Group as a result of money laundering operations. Hezbollah never confirmed those accusations.
Sources provided us with exclusive photos from the port of Genoa, where the ship was sieged by the Italian Army, confirming that Bana carried two shipments of weapons. The first shipment was loaded at the port of Haider Pasha and should has been unloaded at the port of Misrata, while the second shipment was loaded at the Turkish port of Mersin to be unloaded in Tripoli.
Last Tuesday, the Libyan National Army announced that it had targeted a naval ship under the Turkish flag, loaded with a consignment of weapons, destined to the port of Tripoli.
MENA’s exclusive sources in Italy state that the ship Bana is now confiscated in one of the Italian ports since February 1 after the interception and discovery of weapon transport by the Italian Navy.
