NATO Minehunters Arrive In Tunisia

M-268 TCG Akçakoca.

NATO’s Standing Mine Counter Measures Group 2 will start a 5 day port visit in La Goulette, Tunisia today.

Captain Abdulhamit Sener from the Turkish Navy is leading the SNMCMG2, and will also chair a press conference scheduled for Friday, February 10^th, on board the flagship “Mehmetpasa.”

The mission of this NATO group is to protect shipping lanes against the threat of sub-surface mines. Their secondary mission is to conduct scientific research about the Tunisian marine environment.

This visit will provide the NATO crew with an opportunity to communicate the nature of their activities to Tunisian authorities and visit historical and cultural sites of Tunis and its suburbs as well.

The relations between Tunisia and NATO date back to 1994, when Tunisia joined the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue – a forum of cooperation between NATO and seven non-NATO countries on the Mediterranean. The forum aims at “contributing to regional security and stability, achieving better mutual understanding and dispelling any misconceptions about NATO among dialogue countries,” according to the mission statement posted on NATO’s website.

This is the current composition of SNMCMG-2: