https://www.politico.eu/article/roug...s-with-allies/
Rough seas for NATO as Turkey clashes with allies
For NATO allies operating in the Mediterranean, it was less collective defence than collective nonsense. A shambolic day at sea, culminating in an encounter that led France on Tuesday to
suspend its role in a NATO mission in the Mediterranean, has laid bare tensions at the heart of the military alliance.
On the morning of June 10, southwest of the island of Crete, a Greek navy frigate, the Spetsai, was on patrol as part of the EU's
Operation IRINI — an effort to enforce the U.N. arms embargo on Libya that EU officials stress is “neutral” and not aimed against any particular country. The Greek vessel spotted a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship, Cirkin, a squat white-and-blue boat, suspected of being used by Turkey — a NATO ally and still officially an EU membership candidate — to transport tanks and weapons to Libya's U.N.-recognized government.
The Spetsai dispatched its helicopter, a Sikorsky S-70B Aegean Hawk, to take a closer look. But the helicopter and the Spetsai were tersely warned off by three Turkish naval ships, which said the cargo boat was carrying medical supplies, and under their protection. On orders from an Italian commander, the EU forces backed away and reported the incident to EU and U.N authorities.
But things got even testier — and more dangerous — that evening, closer to Libya, where the same small Turkish flotilla encountered a French frigate, the Courbet, that is part of NATO's Operation Sea Guardian. At that point, the French said, the Cirkin's Automatic Identification System was off.
What happened next is a matter of fierce dispute, and subject to a classified investigation at NATO's highest levels.
According to the French defense ministry, which lodged an official complaint, the Turkish ships became hostile when the Courbet, acting on the orders of NATO's Allied Maritime Command, headquartered in the U.K., sought to inquire about the Cirkin's destination and payload. Turkey insists the interaction was friendly, and that one of its boats even refueled the Courbet.
What is clear is that the two incidents have put an embarrassing new spotlight on intense infighting among NATO allies — prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to double down on his assertion that the alliance is experiencing "brain death." And on Tuesday, France sent a letter to NATO, announcing the temporary withdrawal from the Sea Guardian mission, in a move that indicates there was not enough support from the alliance.........
According to the French, as the Courbet followed NATO orders to inspect the suspicious cargo ship, Turkish sailors could be seen in combat positions, and one of the Turkish frigates flashed its radar lights onto the French vessel three times, effectively threatening to shoot. French officials were irate.
"We can't accept that an ally behaves this way, we can't accept that an ally does this against a NATO ship, under NATO command, carrying out a NATO mission," a French defense ministry official said. And at a NATO meeting last month, the French armed forces minister, Florence Parly, demanded an investigation. Meanwhile, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar
issued a statement dismissing the French claims as "completely unrealistic."
What seems clear is that Turkey did not want its own allies to see whatever the Cirkin was carrying. And its cargo was delivered without being inspected, despite orders from commanders leading the different EU and NATO maritime missions.
Even NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who normally finds a way to explain away any differences among the alliance's 30 members, could not dispute the stark divide over the events of June 10th.
"The fact is that two NATO allies are involved and those two NATO allies have totally different views on what actually happened. And therefore, the NATO military authorities are now investigating, looking into that instance to try to establish the facts," Stoltenberg
said in a public interview last week with the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
NATO allies had unanimously denounced Macron's "brain death" remark, but after the recent naval tension, the French leader claimed vindication. "I refer you back to my comments at the end of last year on the brain death of NATO," he told reporters last week. "This was one of the most beautiful demonstrations possible — when we have two NATO members who found themselves in the situation that we went through."....
A Turkish official slapped back at Macron, accusing him of displaying NATO's dirty laundry.
"As a matter of principle, we do not find it appropriate for topics of sensitive and confidential nature for the Alliance to be the subject of media commentary," the Turkish official said. "Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency on behalf of some allies to publicize such issues, through targeted leaks, anonymous commentary or high-level statements," said the official, who declined to be named.........
Still, other EU and NATO countries, even when politically close to France, are reluctant to acknowledge such a stark divide, given Turkey's military importance — as one of the alliance's largest and best-armed members, and the political risks of alienating Ankara, which could push it closer to Moscow.
That reluctance was vividly on display when only eight out of 30 NATO countries were willing to publicly support France in its complaint about the Courbet incident. Most notable was the lack of public support from Washington and London, where Boris Johnson made clear he did not give much credence to France's view.
The U.K. sees Turkey as an essential part of its global strategy post-Brexit, while the U.S. sees Turkey’s involvement in Libya as a way to curb Russian intervention.
All that has left other NATO countries struggling to calibrate their message. "Turkey is a valid ally," Portuguese Defense Minister Joćo Gomes Cravinho said in an interview. "I wouldn't call it a problem, but there are a number of problems relating to Turkey."
https://www.politico.eu/article/fran...mediterranean/
France pulls out of NATO naval mission in the Mediterranean