Although NATO has deployed a number of navy vessels in the Aegean Sea, in order to monitor the human trafficking of refugees from Turkey to Greece, the French news agency claims that Turkey has refused to allow the navy vessels from entering its territorial waters.

The news agency, which cites diplomatic sources from Brussels, notes that Turkish authorities have rejected the requests for deployment made by the German command of the NATO mission in the Aegean. This claim has been confirmed by a second diplomatic source.

The first diplomatic source commented that this problem was known from “the start” and further revealed that Turkey wants the German commander, Rear Admiral Jörg Klein to travel to Ankara and outline the area where the NATO vessels will be deployed.

Furthermore, the same source pointed out that in spite of the assurances of Greek and German officials, Turkey appears to have little to no interest in receiving refugees rescued by NATO during the operations.