As tensions between Ankara and Paris escalated, France refused to take part in the NATO operation
The French government has temporarily suspended its participation in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) surveillance operation in the Mediterranean. The reason for this is the escalation of tensions between France and Turkey.
Paris will not take part in any of NATO’s security operations in the Mediterranean until NATO responds to France’s requests for Turkish military intervention in the Mediterranean, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Turkish frigates carried out radar targeting against the French warship three times, suggesting a missile strike was imminent, France’s defence ministry said.
A senior Turkish military official denied the French claims as “completely untrue”.
Nato opened an investigation after France protested during an alliance defence ministers meeting in June.
“It seems that the Nato experts did not reach the same conclusion. I had the information yesterday, it seems that the Courbet is withdrawing from this Nato exercise,” Musa told the French Senate on Wednesday.
