Eritrea: three Turkish sailors detained for three months released

Text by: Léonard Vincent Follow

Three Turkish sailors who were sailing around the world were released on Saturday, June 20, after spending almost three months in detention in Eritrea. According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, they were arrested by the Eritrean navy in April after having to dock urgently.

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Judging by their photography, Selim, Ibrahim and Lutfi are in their sixties, white hair and in good physical condition. On board their catamaran, the three friends from Turkey were about to complete the world tour that Selim, retired, had started alone in September 2017, according to Turkish media.

But their problems began at the Djibouti stopover in April, when the Covid-19 spread. They then quickly set sail to return to Turkey, but only to learn of the closure of the Suez Canal and the arrival of bad weather which forced them to seek refuge.

Arrested by the Eritrean Navy

The closest refuge was the Eritrean port of Massawa. After notifying the Turkish authorities, they set sail for the coast. But a star of the Eritrean navy then intercepted them, according to the independent station Radio Erena. The soldiers on board forced them to head south to the Gedem military naval base, "  where they were probably held as spies,  " according to a chain reporter.

For weeks, no news, except an SMS from Selim to his wife. The Turkish government's requests received no response. It should be remembered that Eritrea has bad relations with Turkey, the ally of Qatar with which Asmara broke up. According to a diplomatic source, it finally took "  the personal intervention of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed  " with his Eritrean counterpart to obtain the release of the Turkish adventurers.

Turkey indeed maintains good relations with Ethiopia, where it is the second foreign investor, after China. Faced with Asmara's silence, Ankara had asked Abiy Ahmed to use his influence with the cloudy Eritrean president Issayas Afewerki to negotiate a diplomatic outcome to the incident.

Notoriously perilous waters

A similar mishap had happened in 2011 to four British sailors. Two employees of a private security company and two other men had been detained for five months in Eritrea. The government of Asmara accused them of being part of a commando of several dozen mercenaries, but also of having imported and concealed a stock of weapons and military equipment to carry out "  acts of terrorism  " in the country. They were released in exchange for an official apology from their employer.

Eritrean waters are notoriously perilous, given the opacity and susceptibility of the autocratic regime led by Issayas Afewerki. Last month, the Eritrean Navy arrested Yemeni fishermen and seized their boats around the Hanish Islands, once disputed, but now legally under Yemeni sovereignty. In retaliation, Yemen had captured seven soldiers from the Eritrean navy. According to the same diplomatic source, the incident is now over, the last Yemeni fishermen detained in Eritrea having been returned to their country last Friday, thanks to mediation by the United Arab Emirates.

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• Eritrea
• Turkey
• Abiy ahmed
• Issayas Afewerki