A row between France and Turkey over a pledge by world leaders not to interfere in Libya has escalated after a French aircraft carrier reportedly spotted a Turkish frigate operating in breach of a UN arms embargo on the country. Dr. Willem Theo Oosterveld, senior fellow at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, commented on the incident to Arab News.
Oosterveld said it is not very likely that the EU will impose sanctions on Turkey as a result of Turkey’s arms embargo violation due to the disagreement between the EU members on Libya issue.
“And they would not want to further escalate tension with Turkey as there is already an ongoing dispute in the Eastern Med over gas drillings, for which the EU already adopted a sanctions framework back in 2019. Also, there is little appetite to see Turkey put pressure on the EU-Turkey deal as a new migration pact is to be discussed among EU member states in the coming months,” he told Arab News.
Read the full article at Arab News.
