Turkey moves to deploy warships off Somali coast

Gen. Metin Gurak, a military spokesman, told a weekly briefing that preparations were underway to send the TCG Giresun to the waterway.

 

Gurak’s statement came a day after the government sought parliament’s approval to deploy warships in the region as part of a United Nations mission.

 

The government presented to parliament a memorandum to allow Turkey to deploy its navy off the Somali coast to prevent pirates hijacking its ships.

 

"We have decided that this would be an important positive step towards ensuring security in the region," Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told reporters on Friday.

 

The minister explained that the frigate would be sent under U.N. Security Council resolutions authorizing countries to take measures to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery in the region.

 

"This will not be an individual mission but rather one in which Turkey will be part of a naval force including a number of countries," he said.

 

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said last month the Security Council could explore the possibility of setting up a maritime task force or adding to current anti-piracy operations "a quick reaction component."

 

SPECIAL COMMANDOS

A total of 250 crew and a team of special commandos serve on the TCG Giresun, hurriyet.com.tr reported on Friday.

 

The decision comes after the release of the third Turkish cargo ship held by pirates earlier this week. Parliament is expected to vote and approve the decree next week. Â

 

The memorandum envisages a one-year limit for the deployment in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.

 

"The threat to our commercial vessels has reached a dimension where it negatively affects our country's trade and economic interests," the memorandum said.

It said there had been nearly 500 incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the maritime region.

 

Some 15 ships with links to NATO-member Turkey have been hijacked, along with more than 300 crew members, of which 37 were Turkish.

 

"The gravity and complexity of the problem requires that the international community acts together with a comprehensive approach," the memorandum said.

 

It said Turkey was cooperating actively in the work of the United Nations, NATO and the European Union on the issue. It was not clear when parliament would consider the memorandum.

 

A Turkish frigate already had served in the region under NATO, but the mission of that ship has expired and Turkey wants to contribute further to the anti-piracy efforts.

 

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes has sent insurance prices soaring, forced some owners to decide to go around South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, and brought an unprecedented deployment of foreign warships to the region. Two Turkish ships hijacked last year were released by Somali pirates last month.