Ships assigned to the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (Ike CSG) conduct a replenishment-at-sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Janweb B. Lagazo/Released)
U.S. officials told their Turkish counterparts that aircraft carriers were deployed in the eastern Mediterranean near Israel for the possible evacuation of civilians, a Turkish defense ministry official said on October 19, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two carrier strike groups, the Gerald R. Ford and the Eisenhower, were sent to the eastern Mediterranean after the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the deployment of aircraft carrier battle groups to the region was “not meant as a provocation, it’s meant as a deterrent”.
Nevertheless, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticized the deployment of U.S. aircraft carriers in the eastern Mediterranean, warning of “serious massacres” in Gaza. He also said the deployment hindered Turkish efforts to establish calm in the region.
“When we raise this issue with our U.S. counterparts, they tell us that those aircraft carrier groups were sent there as part of non-combatant evacuation operations for civilians in the region,” a Turkish defense ministry official told reporters.
The U.S. showed unconditional support for Israel in the war, even after Palestinian health officials said that an Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza killed nearly 500 civilians.
Israel has already stated that it wants to eradicate Hamas and change the status quo in Gaza, the home to more than two million Palestinians, forever. More than half of the population have been already displaced from the northern part of the Strip by Israeli strikes.
Both Egypt and Jordan rejected calls to host Palestinians from Gaza as refugees while Israel completes its attack on Hamas. The main belief in the two countries is that Israel will not allow Palestinians to return and will permanently reoccupy the Strip.
The evacuation operations U.S. officials told their counterpart about may be related to the evacuation of a half million American citizens from Israel, if the situation required. However, it is also possible that the remarks are related to Israel’s ongoing efforts to find an alternative home for Palestinians in Gaza. It is still unclear if Turkey would support such a plan or how it could take part in it.
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