{"id":95890,"date":"2022-06-06T17:05:54","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T15:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=95890"},"modified":"2022-06-06T08:09:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T06:09:11","slug":"16-05-76","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=95890","title":{"rendered":"NATO Should NOT Pay Ransom to Turkey; Instead, Should Amend Rules to Expel It"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/images\/gatestone-logo-1000.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"50%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/18586\/nato-expel-turkey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NATO Should NOT Pay Ransom to Turkey; Instead, Should Amend Rules to Expel It<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Burak Bekdil<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<ul class=\"content_preface_bullets\">\n<li>\n<h5><strong>&#8220;Turkey is a member of NATO, but under Mr. Erdo\u011fan, it no longer subscribes to the values that underpin this great alliance. Article 13 of the NATO charter provides a mechanism for members to withdraw. Perhaps it is time to amend Article 13 to establish a procedure for the expulsion of a member nation.&#8221; \u2014 Former US Senator Joe Lieberman and Mark D. Wallace,\u00a0<i>Wall Street Journal<\/i>, May 18, 2022.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5><strong>&#8220;[G]iving in to Ankara&#8217;s demands amounts to letting an autocrat design the security architecture of Europe and shape the future of the Western system.&#8221; \u2014 Cengiz \u00c7andar, journalist, Al-Monitor, May 24, 2022.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5><strong>With its $8,000 per capita GDP, Erdo\u011fan&#8217;s ailing Turkey is not more powerful than the other 29 NATO allies combined. NATO&#8217;s political leaders must stop acting as if it is.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/pics\/3362.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey&#8217;s Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan (pictured), is threatening to use his country&#8217;s veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO&#8217;s renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO&#8217;s nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Chris McGrath\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Just when, after years of idling around, NATO appears to be gaining some strategic prominence following Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine, the only Muslim member of the alliance is holding 29 other members as hostage, blocking the most critical move in its history. Surrendering to an Islamist&#8217;s well-known oriental bargaining tactics will mean the demise of the alliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey&#8217;s Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, is threatening to use his country&#8217;s veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO&#8217;s renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO&#8217;s nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">On May 25, senior Swedish and Finnish delegations\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/5\/25\/sweden-finland-hold-talks-in-turkey-over-nato-membership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">arrived<\/a>\u00a0in Ankara to meet with Erdo\u011fan&#8217;s spokesman, Ibrahim Kal\u0131n, and deputy foreign minister Sedat \u00d6nal, with a mission to overcome Turkey&#8217;s objections. Every single diplomat in the Turkish capital knew that the mission would fail before it even took off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;We stated that this procedure [Sweden and Finland joining NATO] would not be possible until Turkey&#8217;s security concerns were addressed,&#8221; Kal\u0131n\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/english.news.cn\/20220526\/3b5a616b34bf43dd91d404711a996cc7\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a>\u00a0the media after the meeting. But what are Turkey&#8217;s security concerns, and why are they related to two small European Union nations, one with a 1,300 km (810 mile) border with Russia?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Officially speaking, Turkey\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/english.news.cn\/20220526\/3b5a616b34bf43dd91d404711a996cc7\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demands<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;written agreement&#8221; from Finland and Sweden for steps to end their &#8220;support for terrorism&#8221; &#8212; meaning their alleged logistical and political support for the PKK Kurdish insurgents and their YPG branch in Syria. It accuses the two countries of harboring members of the &#8220;G\u00fclen movement,&#8221; which Ankara alleges was behind a failed military coup attempt in 2016. Furthermore, Ankara demands that Sweden and Finland end the ban on exporting weapons to Turkey, which they imposed after Turkey&#8217;s military incursion into northeast Syria in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Ankara\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/5\/25\/sweden-finland-hold-talks-in-turkey-over-nato-membership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>\u00a0that it has requested the extradition of Kurdish fighters and other suspects since 2017 but has not received a positive response from Stockholm. The Turkish government\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/5\/25\/sweden-finland-hold-talks-in-turkey-over-nato-membership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">claimed<\/a>\u00a0that Sweden has decided to provide $376 million to support Kurdish fighters in 2023 and that it has provided them with military equipment, including anti-tank weapons and drones. Sweden\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/5\/25\/sweden-finland-hold-talks-in-turkey-over-nato-membership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">denies<\/a>\u00a0these accusations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Erdo\u011fan seems to think that he has found a golden opportunity to blackmail the entire Western alliance, and get the maximum out of a list of official and unofficial demands. Erdo\u011fan also seems to be hoping to reset Turkey&#8217;s badly strained ties with the West, most notably with the U.S. He appears to want a new, warm political welcome back into the Western world, along with a narrative to Turkey&#8217;s anti-Western masses of how he brought the evil West to its knees &#8212; always a sure vote-catcher in xenophobic Turkey. He badly needs that Western appeasement for his campaign for re-election in June 2023. Turkey&#8217;s economy, with an annual inflation rate of 70%, is in doldrums to put it mildly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">What else does Erdo\u011fan want? He will start negotiating a return to the US-led F-35 fighter jet program, from which Turkey was expelled after it acquired the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air defense system. If re-joining the multinational program to manufacture the world&#8217;s most advanced fighter jet is not possible, Erdo\u011fan will bargain for U.S. approval to buy a batch of 40 F-16 Block 70 aircraft and upgrade kits for 80 more jets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Erdo\u011fan&#8217;s foreign policy team will make the process of entering NATO as hard as possible for Sweden and Finland. &#8220;It is not an easy process,&#8221; a senior Turkish official\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/turkey-seeks-concrete-action-sweden-finland-nato-bids-2022-05-27\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a>\u00a0Reuters adding that Sweden and Finland must take &#8220;difficult&#8221; steps to win Ankara&#8217;s support. &#8220;Further negotiations will continue. But a date doesn&#8217;t seem very close.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">All 29 other NATO allies want to seal Sweden and Finland&#8217;s membership before the NATO Summit in Madrid on June 29-30. After a meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/turkey-seeks-concrete-action-sweden-finland-nato-bids-2022-05-27\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>\u00a0it was extremely important that results be achieved before the Madrid summit. Raising the stakes in this poker game, however, Turkish officials\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/turkey-seeks-concrete-action-sweden-finland-nato-bids-2022-05-27\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">downplayed<\/a>\u00a0prospects of reaching an agreement before the summit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Unlike independent observers, some Western leaders are downplaying the &#8220;Turkish problem.&#8221; NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, for instance,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jensstoltenberg\/status\/1528017651439747073\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter that he and Erdo\u011fan &#8220;agree that the security concerns of all Allies must be taken into account and talks need to continue to find a solution.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">When asked if he could assuage Turkish concerns, U.S. President Joe Biden\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-05-19\/biden-to-push-sweden-and-finland-nato-bid-stymied-by-turkey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>, &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to Turkey, but I think we&#8217;re going to be OK.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Echoing similar optimism, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-05-19\/biden-to-push-sweden-and-finland-nato-bid-stymied-by-turkey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>&#8220;We&#8217;re confident that, at the end of the day, Finland and Sweden will have an effective and efficient accession process, that Turkey&#8217;s concerns can be addressed. We feel very good about where this will track to.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Erdo\u011fan&#8217;s blackmailing tactics risk fueling a debate within NATO about Turkey&#8217;s fitness to remain an ally. &#8220;Does Erdo\u011fan&#8217;s Turkey Belong in NATO?&#8221;\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/does-erdogans-turkey-belong-in-nato-sweden-finland-join-veto-weapons-peace-broker-11652882743?mod=editors_picks_opn_3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asked<\/a>\u00a0former US Senator Joe Lieberman and Mark D. Wallace, a U.S. Ambassador to the UN for Management and Reform, in an op-ed in the\u00a0<i>Wall Street Journal<\/i>. They noted that unlike Finland and Sweden, Turkey would not meet NATO&#8217;s democracy requirements if it were applying for membership today. According to Lieberman and Wallace:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>&#8220;Turkey is a member of NATO, but under Mr. Erdo\u011fan, it no longer subscribes to the values that underpin this great alliance. Article 13 of the NATO charter provides a mechanism for members to withdraw. Perhaps it is time to amend Article 13 to establish a procedure for the expulsion of a member nation.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Adding to that, Turkish journalist and analyst Cengiz Candar\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/originals\/2022\/05\/turkeys-nato-obstinance-threatens-more-nordic-membership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cautioned<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>&#8220;Giving in to Ankara&#8217;s demands amounts to letting an autocrat design the security architecture of Europe and shape the future of the Western system.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">With its $8,000 per capita GDP, Erdo\u011fan&#8217;s ailing Turkey is not more powerful than the other 29 NATO allies combined. NATO&#8217;s political leaders must stop acting as if it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><i><strong>Burak Bekdil<\/strong>, one of Turkey&#8217;s leading journalists, was recently fired from the country&#8217;s most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NATO Should NOT Pay Ransom to Turkey; Instead, Should Amend Rules to Expel It Burak Bekdil &#8220;Turkey is a member of NATO, but under Mr. Erdo\u011fan, it no longer subscribes to the values that underpin this great alliance. Article 13 of the NATO charter provides a mechanism for members to withdraw. Perhaps it is time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95890"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95890"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95901,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95890\/revisions\/95901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}