While the Turkish Navy escorts civilian ships trafficking arms to Libya, the US Navy rescues a Turkish yacht burning in our inner sea, Marmara.
BOLD ANALYSIS
FATİH YURTSEVER
What kind of quagmire does the Erdogan Regime drag Turkish warships off of Libya?
While Turkey has a busy agenda with Idlib and coronavirus, local news sources in Libya shared information last week that Turkish warships shot down an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) belonging to General Haftar Forces. Previously, some news websites had published various videos and pictures showing that Turkish warships accompanied the commercial ships carrying weapons for the Government of National Accord forces.
According to the information in the local press, The Turkish Task Force consists of two frigates.
The Turkish warships escorted the ships, loaded with weapons from Turkey, to the port of Tripoli. A UAV of General Haftar forces, departed from Misrata Airport, was allegedly downed with the fired Standard-1 Guided Missile by one of the Turkish warships during one of these “military missions.” Carrying out duties in the Mediterranean for about two months, the Turkish warships returned last week to their bases by completing their missions.
As it can be deduced from the news, the Erdogan regime continues to drag the Turkish Armed Forces into a deadlock in Libya, just like it did in Syria. The warships which have been serving in the Mediterranean for about two months do not have a duty to accompany the merchant ships, which allegedly carry weapons, according to the resolution passed in the Assembly. Moreover, in accordance with the decisions taken by the UN Security Council, an arms embargo is being imposed on Libya.
Warships perform their activities at seas during peacetime according to international law and rules of engagement. It is forbidden to use force by warships against any element other than self-protection and legitimate self-defense. Although it does not pose a threat to ships and perforation of the arms embargo on Libya is categorical, downing a UAV to prevent video recording of accompanying activities means, to say the least, the violation of international law.
The Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic of Egypt, in the letter sent to the UN Security Council on March 10, 2020, accused Turkey of disregarding the arms embargo imposed on Libya and carrying the jihadist groups and pro-al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria to Libya. As a result of the meeting held in Munich in January, the decisions taken by the UN Security Council for ensuring a ceasefire and stability in Libya, registered by decision number 2510, made Turkey’s situation and operations even more fragile.
The EU has announced that it will launch a maritime operation to prevent illegal arms trade in Libya and to control the arms embargo implemented in line with the UN Security Council Decisions. The decision to terminate the activities of Turkish warships off the coast of Libya, as far as it is understood, was taken after the EU announced that it would carry out maritime operations.
Due to the rogue activities of the Erdogan regime, Turkey is perceived as an unreliable partner in the sea, as in every field, and an ally to keep an eye on. Italy has good bilateral relations with Russia and considers Turkey as a country that can be made about, in some measure, partial cooperation for Libya. Relations with France is tense due to the sharing of the Maritime Jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean and the serious opinion differences regarding Cyprus.
In an atmosphere of tension, France sent its aircraft carrier duty group to the Eastern Mediterranean.
As a result of the actual reflection of that statement on the field, The Greek elements and the French aircraft carrier conducted a military drill in the south of Crete. The French Defense Minister also previously stated that “We stand with Greece in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean issues against Turkey.”
Although having sufficient legal arguments in terms of international law on Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus and Libya, due to the illegal activities of the Erdogan regime with unlawful practices, Turkey gets lonely each day and causes coalitions against itself. Turkish Armed Forces, which has a commendable position among NATO countries, continues to lose credibility due to the unlawful practices, purges, and politicization.
Turkish Navy is the most evident face of security architecture and foreign policy in the international arena. However, such news about the Navy disregarding the arms embargo or dawning a Libyan UAV, although they serve for the purposes of the Erdogan regime in the short term, they continue to produce evidence that in the long term Turkey will be put in trouble.
While our warships were busy with illegal activities in the Mediterranean Sea, the US’ USS ROSS destroyer extended its helping hand to a burning yacht in the Marmara Sea while passing from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea, rescuing the people on board, and handing them over to the Turkish Coast Guard. The US Embassy in Ankara announced the news on its official Twitter account. Search and rescue at sea is a humanitarian mission, and all ships at sea must assist anyone seeking assistance as far as possible.
However, the Marmara Sea is Turkey’s inland sea. The Navy, especially the Coast Guard, has to monitor the activities in the Marmara Sea closely. It is first of all the Coast Guard’s and then the Navy’s shame that a US destroyer helped a boat burning in our inland waters. There is only one lesson to be learned from this incident: Becoming an apparatus of the unlawful affairs of the Erdogan regime, the Turkish Armed Forces and Navy not only move away from their essential duties but also they lose their deterrence and lose their dignity. Unfortunately, Turkey’s most respected institutions are being pushed into the swamp at the expense of the security of the Erdogan regime.