Turkey's main opposition lambasts EU troop initiative for Central African Republic

ANKARA

'The EU has no such authority. This authority exclusively, solely, belongs to the U.N. Security Council,' said Loğoğlu. CİHAN Photo

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has criticized the European Union’s plan to send troops to the Central African Republic in order to end sectarian unrest, saying the EU has “no authority” there.

“Is it the EU’s place to make such a call?” CHP Deputy Chair Faruk Loğoğlu said at a press conference on Feb. 17, following reports that Turkey is among countries to which the EU has appealed for a contribution to the union-wide effort to halt ethnic cleansing against the Central African Republic’s Muslim population.

“The EU has no such authority. This authority exclusively, solely, belongs to the U.N. Security Council,” said Loğoğlu, a veteran diplomat and a former undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry.

In late January, the U.N. Security Council authorized European troops to use force in the Central African Republic.

The 15-nation council unanimously backed a resolution allowing a proposed EU contingent to use “all necessary force” to protect civilians caught up in 10 months of strife since rebels seized power.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, wrote a letter to Ankara on Feb. 14 asking about the prospects of Turkish assistance, a Turkish official recently told Agence France-Presse. The official said the letter did not specifically ask for troops from Ankara but was seeking some kind of Turkish “contribution.”

“We are evaluating what we can do,” he said.