By Thodoris Giannaros
Amid speculation about America’s diminished commitment to security in the Middle East region, Turkey appears to know its lesson all too well – the ability of the region it controls to act as a disruptive force for NATO if for some reason its own interests are not supported.
It’s the game that Turkey tends to play when it gets squeezed! Thus, the possibility of the Middle East through Turkey to derail both American and European policy in completely other regions of the world is demonstrated, such as the stubborn refusal of Finland and Sweden to join NATO and not only
It is obvious that Turkey aims for good relations with both Russia and China, but this has led to questioning the loyalty and commitment of our East Asian neighbors to the North Atlantic Treaty…
Erdogan’s Turkey’s role in NATO can be described in just one word: “hermaphrodite”. This is a country with leaderships without a side, with the cunning of the bad villager…
Turkey is a country without principles, which only sort of belongs to the West, since it essentially belongs to Asia and is used to charting its own selfish course everywhere and always… like for example the near-conflict with Greece in Imia, the events of the Evros , where he threatened to send hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to Europe through Greece, the constant threats against our country, the military intervention in Syria, the blocking of the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO, the purchase of S400, the fostering and support of ISIS and of Hamas and so many others. All this creates serious questions in the West regarding whether this Turkey really belongs to NATO, or not…
The strategy of purported autonomy is one of the favorite pastimes of today’s Erdogan’s Turkey – not that it was much different in the past, but now it is out of the question, as it aims to maintain an independent foreign policy, which it is unwilling to change. She bases this behavior on the fact that international balances have changed significantly and power has shifted from the West to the East.
The philosophy of the Turkish state is that although it is an active member of the North Atlantic Alliance, it sees no reason to deactivate its own model, based on which it seeks to have strong ties and cooperation with Russia.
Although the West disagrees with this attitude of Turkey, it tolerates it, since even there, some strong interests exist, such as the grain agreement important for Europe, which was able to be implemented thanks to the contribution of Turkey and of its president.
In general, Turkey is an unpredictable country, which is difficult to befriend, since sooner or later it will bite even the hand that is extended to help it in its problems and sees every foreign policy issue that may exist as an object of negotiation, with negotiators Erdogan himself and a small pack of trusted Islamists by his side.
The Turks consider, in any case, that their country’s stay in NATO is no longer imperative, nor is it their country’s only option… Somehow, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization seems to be developing into a rather tempting target for its sultan. of Turkey, which has now turned into a pure-blooded Erdogan. Turkey is eager to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, even though it was created by China and Russia, with the aim of undermining the United States and removing its influence and power! This, as you can understand, has resulted in many of the NATO member countries persistently demanding Turkey’s definitive exclusion from NATO for a long time, but Stoltenberg, being on the Sultan’s payroll, stubbornly resists!
In any case, especially due to Turkey’s geo-strategic position, it is not that easy to expel it from NATO… and the NATO leadership and its member countries know this! On the other hand, it is not so simple for Turkey to voluntarily withdraw from the Alliance and participate anywhere else, and this is due to the fact that, at this time, it is fully integrated into NATO, while all weapons, war material, aircraft etc. that it has are Western weapons and it is certainly impossible for it to simply change the entire system of its armed forces if it takes the meteoric step of joining other alliances.
Turkey’s objections within NATO may be a turning point. Much of Turkey’s strategic flexibility comes from the fact that its own priorities are seen as regional issues for major NATO allies!
In conclusion, for America and the European Union, it would be genius to plan to develop a policy that is able to balance the disruptive demands of some authoritarian allies, often aimed at ensuring the survival of their own authoritarian regime, with the need to remain committed to the democratic values of the West in the midst of a war over which worldview will secure the world order during the 21st century.
So let’s see…
