Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has assigned the rear admiral and chief of staff of the Turkish Navy, Cihat Yayci, to the Turkish General Staff in a surprise move.
The decision sparked speculations given that Yayci was the “architect” of Turkey’s controversial maritime deal with Libya’s Government of National Accord that was signed on Nov. 27.
Ankara intends to implement the deal by starting drilling in the region in July.
Observes stated that Erdogan’s decision aims to hinder promoting Yayci to a general's rank and stop him from reaching a higher ranking position in the army.
Reports hinted at disputes between the Turkish President and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on several key matters namely appointments within the military establishment.
Meanwhile, Akar has rejected the European Union’s Operation IRINI, which aims to halt the flow of arms into Libya.
The minister said that the operation “lacks legitimacy and aims to support the Libyan National Army” of Khalifa Haftar.
In a television interview broadcast on Friday, Akar hinted that some EU member states failed to coordinate with NATO before the launch of the operation.
He also said that the EU states have differences on the operation.
Irini replaces the controversial Operation Sophia, set up in 2015 to fight people-smuggling across the Mediterranean at the height of Europe's migrant crisis, which formally ended at the end of March.
The new mission was supposed to start earlier, but it was held up for nearly a month by bickering between Italy and Greece over who should hold the command.
