France leaves NATO Mediterranean operation over dispute with Turkey
The French decision follows NATO's report on a June incident in the Mediterranean Sea between France and Turkey amid tensions between the two NATO allies over the sea and Libya.
France reportedly pulled out of a NATO naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea following the investigation into an earlier maritime incident with Turkey. It is the latest in a series of disagreements between the NATO allies over the strategic body of water and Libya.
In June, France accused Turkey of harassing one of its warships in the eastern Mediterranean. France says it was inspecting a civilian cargo ship suspected of bringing weapons to Libya, which is subject to a UN weapons embargo. France said a Turkish ship conducted repeated radar targeting of the French vessel as it was doing the inspection, which Turkey denied. NATO announced it would conduct an investigation following the incident.
The results of the investigation prompted France to pull out of NATO’s Sea Guardian operation, Reuters reported today, citing a French defense official.
What exactly the investigation concluded is unknown. A NATO official told Al-Monitor the report is classified and will be discussed by NATO members soon.
