PARIS -- France announced Wednesday that it is suspending its involvement in a NATO naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea after a standoff with a Turkish warship, as tensions mount within the military alliance over the conflict in Libya.
France's Defense Ministry said that the government sent a letter Tuesday to NATO saying that it is halting its participation in Sea Guardian "temporarily." The step was taken after NATO investigators submitted their report on the June 10 incident.
A ministry official said France wants NATO allies to "solemnly reaffirm their attachment" to the arms embargo on Libya, which is being policed in part by a European Union naval operation. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity under the government's customary practices.
France has accused Turkey of repeated violations of the U.N. arms embargo on Libya and branded the Turkish government as an obstacle to securing a cease-fire in the North African nation, which Turkey firmly denies.
France also is calling for a crisis mechanism to prevent a repeat of the incident between Turkish warships and a French naval vessel in the Mediterranean.
France says its frigate Courbet was "lit up" three times by Turkish naval targeting radar when it tried to approach a Tanzanian-flagged civilian ship suspected of involvement in arms trafficking. The ship was being escorted by three Turkish warships. The Courbet backed off after the confrontation.
At the time, the French frigate was part of the Sea Guardian mission, which is helping to provide maritime security in the Mediterranean. France said it was acting based on NATO information and that under the alliance's rules of engagement such conduct is considered a hostile act.
Turkey has denied harassing the Courbet. Turkey's ambassador to France was questioned in the French Senate on Wednesday and defended Turkey's actions as peaceful and crucial to restoring stability to Libya.
Ambassador Ismail Hakki Musa said he thinks NATO has completed its investigation and that the findings were inconclusive. NATO confirmed only that investigators had submitted their report but said it was "classified" and declined to say what conclusions, if any, had been drawn.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the incident as "very serious."
"We should do everything to ensure that such incidents aren't repeated among NATO allies," Merkel said Wednesday during a question-and-answer session in the German parliament.
Merkel met Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron; Turkey's foreign minister is expected to visit Berlin today.
Turkey has angered its NATO partners over the past year with its invasion of northern Syria and insistence on buying Russian-made missiles. At least eight NATO allies have backed France over the naval standoff, according to French officials.
Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising toppled leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has since been split between rival administrations in the east and the west.
The government in Tripoli led by Fayez Sarraj is backed by Turkey, Italy and Qatar. Rival forces under the command of Khalifa Hifter, who opened an offensive on Tripoli last year, are supported by Russia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other key Arab countries. France has helped Hifter in the past.
Information for this article was contributed by Angela Charlton, Geir Moulson and Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press.
