NATO Conducts Massive Naval Drills, Ignores Refugee Crisis in Mediterranean

NATO naval exercises in the Black Sea is money thrown to the wind, Er Ali, a retired Turkish Brigadier General told Sputnik.

Instead of wasting money on senseless naval exercises in the Black Sea, NATO should use the available resources to solve the issue of illegal immigration in the Mediterranean Sea, Ali said.

"Such exercises are expensive. But this money is wasted for nothing. Millions of dollars. Instead, it would have been better to send NATO naval units to the Mediterranean Sea."

Joint US-Ukrainian naval drills began on Tuesday in the Black Sea. Moreover, Poland and the three Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — have started large scale exercises in the Baltic Sea, codenamed NATO Saber Strike 2015. Over six thousand military personnel from 13 NATO member states will participate in the drills.

These military drills carry an anti-Russian political message, as "NATO is trying to threaten Russia and that is not good." This political course won't help to reach global peace, the former Turkish general said.

Meanwhile, the situation with illegal immigration in the Mediterranean is reaching catastrophic levels, Ali said. Instead of flexing muscles and provoking Russia for no reason, it would have been much better and more logical to send ships to help out African refugees and prevent the escalating humanitarian tragedy on the threshold of the European Union.

Unfortunately, the members of the military alliance don't pay attention to the lives of thousands of refugees, choosing to demonstrate their military power by other means, Ali said.