Captain Paul Mervio de Vino said the frigate Auvergne and her crew of 150 will be deployed in the eastern Mediterranean until January to gather intelligence “to show how important respect for international law and especially freedom of navigation” is for France.
De Vino told reporters in the Cypriot port of Larnaca, saying: “This deployment confirms the importance of this part of the Mediterranean to France, and the country’s readiness to contribute to the stability of this strategic region.”
Auvergne has been in operation for three years and is equipped with advanced and specialized anti-submarine warfare equipment.
De Vino added that this is the twelfth visit of the frigate Auvergne to Cyprus. He described Cyprus as a key factor in supporting the French Navy’s operations in the region.
He said, “It is not possible to conduct effective and sustainable maritime operations without support, and Cyprus is the focus of this support.” The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle also makes frequent flights to Cyprus. Relations between Cyprus and France have increased in depth and strength in recent years.
Cyprus also allowed French planes to use its air base on the southeastern tip of the island, and allowed French ships to use its southern seaport, which is currently under development.
Letters to Turkey
France is also keen to show its presence in order to send signals to Turkey that it should not interfere in the offshore drilling and exploration operations that the French energy company Total and its Italian partner, Eni, will carry out next year in the waters off the southern coast of Cyprus.
Turkey does not recognize Cyprus as a state, and claims rights to waters over which the Cypriot government says it has exclusive economic rights.
While Ankara sees a large part of those waters either overlapping with its continental shelf or belonging to the separatist Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded the island following a coup by supporters of integration with Greece.
And Turkey alone recognizes the Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in 1983 in the northern third of the island, where it deploys more than thirty-five thousand soldiers.
In February 2018, Turkish warships prevented a drilling ship chartered by Eni from conducting exploratory drilling in waters southeast of Cyprus.
Political analyst Anna Kokidis-Procopio says that the French naval presence sends a clear signal to Turkey.
She added to the Associated Press: “(French President Emmanuel) Macron needs this show of force in this region, because this is part of his general policy to establish or re-establish France as a great power, and as a power that imposes its hegemony not only on the Middle East, but in Africa as well. It is necessary for one party to move and fill this void in the eastern Mediterranean. France is now working to ensure that this party is not Turkey.”
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