The escalation of verbal escalations between France and Turkey in a crisis that seems to be the Libyan situation at its heart, after the Turkish ambassador in Paris held France responsible for the failure of the arms embargo on Libya, while Paris called the European Union to additional sanctions on Turkey.
Turkey accuses France of responsibility for the exacerbation of the conflict in Libya by supporting retired Major General Khalifa Haftar and facilitating access to it, while France announced its withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) team involved in maritime searches in the eastern Mediterranean region in implementation of the international arms embargo imposed on Libya, and said It will support new European sanctions against Turkey.
The French withdrawal decision represents a new stage in the continuous and increasing tension between Paris and Ankara for months over the crisis in Libya, which has heated up after the declared Turkish support for the reconciliation government, and successive defeats of the party that Paris is accused of supporting.
The two countries accuse each other of complicating the conflict in Libya, through bias in implementing the arms embargo.
The issue surfaced last June after an incident between Turkish and French frigates in the Mediterranean, and Paris put its complaint at the NATO table, but it expressed its dissatisfaction with the way NATO dealt, which Paris considers lenient towards Ankara.
Turkish Ambassador Ismail Hakki Moussa said today, Wednesday, in the French Senate, "Every day there are flights from the UAE, from Syria, and from other countries to Libya," noting that this ban "violates every day from the air and on the ground, denouncing the indulgence of the matter, pointing at the time Itself indicates that the UN resolution regarding the embargo is not selective, and does not specify that it should be from the sea only and not by air and by land.
Instead of seeking answers within NATO, Paris resorted to the European Union in order to push it to impose sanctions on Turkey, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said his country requested that a meeting of European Union foreign ministers be held on July 13 dedicated only to the Turkish issue.
Ludrian added that there are sanctions that the Union has taken against Turkey because of the exploration operations carried out by it in the maritime economic zone of Cyprus, and other sanctions can be taken, stressing that France decided today to withdraw a Korean frigate from the process of securing the Mediterranean until receiving clarifications on how to coordinate the "Erini" mission of the Union European.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşo أوlu attacked France on Tuesday in press statements in response to Macron's statements in which he spoke of a "criminal" responsibility for Turkey in Libya.
Gawishoglu said that France is in Libya to fulfill its interests only, describing its position towards this country as colonial and destructive, adding that it must be transparent and honest before Macron criticizes Turkey.
The Turkish minister affirmed that France supports a coup person and moves according to a devastating concept in Libya, noting that Paris, despite its denial of support for Haftar, is transferring the UAE money to him.
The French President denied last Monday during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his country had supported or accepted the Haftar attack on Tripoli more than a year ago.
Macron renewed his criticism of Turkey's role in Libya, and said that it is the main intervention now there, and that it bears what he called "historical and criminal responsibility", and had previously described the Turkish role in Libya as a dangerous game, which also necessitated an angry Turkish response.