Turkey's parliament on March 24 approved sending ships to join a NATO operation to enforce a U.N.-sanctioned arms embargo on Libya. The Turkish government obtained a one-year parliamentary authorization for deployment as part of “multidimensional contributions to international efforts aimed at restoring stability and security in Libya.” The vote was held in a closed session by a show of hands, with opposition deputies also lending support to the governing party. Turkey’s navy chief that Turkey was sending four frigates, a submarine and an auxiliary ship to the Mediterranean to monitor the enforcement of the arms embargo.
Over the past week, Turkey has criticized the coalition of countries and especially France for airstrikes against Libya. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan argued that the airstrikes were not effective, increased the loss of life and harmed the country’s unity. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also lambasted France for remarks by French Interior Minister Claude Guenat, for which he later apologized, describing France as leading a “crusade” in Libya.
The Turkish parliamentary vote took place simultaneously as NATO agreed on March 24 to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya. Turkey, while initially balking at NATO involvement in the crisis, changed its position over the last few days and has become a strong proponent of NATO taking over the command structure of the Libya operation. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said after a conference call on March 24 with his U.S., British and French counterparts that NATO would take over command of the international coalition's operations in Libya. He told reporters that Turkey’s fears of excessive civilian losses had been addressed and that Turkey supported a plan to transfer the command of military operations completely to NATO under a single command and control structure. While the NATO decision on March 24 fell short of a final agreement to take full command of all military operations, NATO officials said a decision was expected on Sunday to broaden the mandate to take full command, including over attacks on ground targets to protect civilian areas.
President Barack Obama has said Washington wants to hand over responsibility for the Libyan campaign to NATO within days.
