Why is Turkey still in NATO?

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It is obvious that the Erdogan’s Republic of Türkiye has always played a double game.

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epa01389608 French soldiers of NATO\’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol Arghandab district, Afghanistan after NATO and Afghan military forces have driven out hundreds of Taliban militants from around restive Kandahar, Afghanistan, 20 June 2008. At least 57 Taliban insurgents were killed and dozens more were wounded as NATO and Afghan forces drove out militants who had recently infiltrated several villages in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said 19 June 2008. EPA/HUMAYOUN SHIAB

A NATO presence but also special relations with Putin’s Russia. It seems that between dictators, we like to stick together …

On September 12, 2017, the Republic of Türkiye signed a contract with Russia for the purchase of S-400 systems for an amount of 2.5 billion dollars with delivery initially scheduled for 2020.

On this occasion, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared, “We alone make decisions that fall under our independence.”

However, NATO, and more particularly the United States, did not see it that way and believed that this decision greatly threatened the Republic of Türkiye’s ties with its Western partners as well as the security of NATO materials.

America then sanctioned the Republic of Türkiye and denied it access to the purchase of American military equipment. The Turks were thus unable to renew their aging F16s with F35s.

However, it is not possible to exclude Erdogan’s Republic of Türkiye because the Republic of Türkiye occupies a strategic position between Europe and Asia. To deprive oneself of Turkey would greatly weaken NATO.

Everyone knows this, and that is why despite all of Erdogan’s eccentricities and the fact that he plays a double game, Turkey will remain in NATO.

Sylvain Saurel’s Newsletter


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3 responses to “Why is Turkey still in NATO?”

  1. Enis Pınar Avatar
    Enis Pınar

    Türkiye’s purchase of the S-400 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system from Russia occurred only after the U.S. denied Türkiye’s request to purchase their Patriot SAM system. Ostensibly, because Türkiye also requested technology transfer relating to the defensive system it had been willing to pay the U.S. $3.5 billion for. It was only after the U.S. refusal that the Turks purchased the S-400 from Russia in 2017. A system deemed far superior to the Patriots by many experts (read: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/28/patriot-missiles-are-made-in-america-and-fail-everywhere/ ); and for a billion dollars less.

    Furthermore, the Turkish government has stated on numerous occasions that the S-400’s are for stand-alone usage in their national defense and are being kept entirely separate from any NATO joint defense systems.

    Nonetheless, the U.S. government still objects to Türkiye’s deploying the S-400’s out of concern that it might compromise NATO defenses by tracking the radar signatures of the F-35 as well as of other stealth aircraft, with the data then somehow finding its way into Russian hands; despite all the Russian technicians having been sent home after they finished setting up the system in Türkiye. And despite assessments by experts such as Michael Kofman, a Senior Research Scientist in the Adversary Analytics Program at CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization located in Arlington, VA who has publicly stated that:
    “The only thing the S-400 can do with its radars is track the flight profile of the F-35, something that Russia already does in the Middle East and the Baltics, as the S-400 in Syria and radar stations in Kaliningrad track American aircraft such as the F-35 and F-22 all the time”.

    Türkiye also offered to have a joint NATO panel look into the U.S. concerns and to abide by its decision; but the U.S. government has refused.

    In fact, the U.S. has gone so far as to even implement sanctions against Türkiye, a 70-year NATO ally, based on the argument that Türkiye’s purchase of the S-400’s violated the U.S. “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” (CAATSA) by enriching Russia’s defense sector. Yet another ally, India has purchased twice the number of S-400’s but it has exempted them from any sanctions.

    But hey, the U.S. needs India as an ally against China so they choose to look the other way while singling out the Turks and initiating CAATSA sanctions only against Türkiye. The same way they continue to ship weapons to the Kurdish PKK terrorist group’s affiliate the YPG in northern Syria using the cover of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) knowing full well that some of those weapons are being smuggled across the border into Turkey to be used in terrorist attacks against a 71-year NATO ally. And then people like Sylvain Saurel have the gall to criticize Türkiye for looking after its own national interests.

  2. G-Antepli Avatar

    Amerika wollte so gerne seine schrott F-35 Jets uns andrehen. Türkei braucht USA nicht! USA ist unser versteckter Feind und werde Feind bleiben. Gott schützt die Türkei und den Türken/ in.

  3. Enis Pınar Avatar
    Enis Pınar

    Die USA weigern sich nicht nur, Türkiye die 1,4 Milliarden Dollar zu erstatten, die sie für die nie gelieferten F-35 bezahlt hatten, sondern verlangen von Türkiye jetzt zusätzliches Geld für Schadensersatz. Schamlos:

    https://www.savunmasanayist.com/abd-maliyetler-artti-turkiye-f-35-icin-ek-odeme-yapmali/

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