{"id":10167,"date":"2023-03-07T19:15:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T19:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=10167"},"modified":"2023-03-07T19:15:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T19:15:37","slug":"how-turkey-is-ruining-natos-moment-of-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=10167","title":{"rendered":"How Turkey is ruining NATO\u2019s moment of unity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“Erdo\u011fan, specifically, is raising new objections<\/a> to the ascension of Finland and especially Sweden over what Turkey perceives as the latter\u2019s lax policies toward Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other groups that Turkey deems terrorist organizations. Most recently, Erdo\u011fan has used a far-right politician\u2019s burning of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm<\/a> to harden his opposition to Sweden\u2019s NATO bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All NATO members must approve new ones, so Erdo\u011fan\u2019s opposition is effectively a veto. The Turkish president is not alone in declining support\u2014 Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n is also holding out<\/a>, for now<\/a> \u2014 but Erdo\u011fan is seen as the more legitimate roadblock. Erdo\u011fan is flexing his foreign policy power and influence, and seeking to improve his domestic political position, especially ahead of difficult elections this May<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cErdo\u011fan thinks Turkey has leverage. Erdo\u011fan thinks Turkey has justifiable grievances about Sweden\u2019s policies. Erdo\u011fan thinks he has an opportunity to use that leverage to address those grievances in a way that would be good for Turkey\u2019s national interests. And, in addition to all of that, the entire issue is good for Erdo\u011fan politically,\u201d said Nicholas Danforth, editor at War on the Rocks<\/a> and nonresident senior research fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given all that, it\u2019s not really surprising this spat over the Nordic countries\u2019 NATO membership is dragging out. But this is also really not how the script was supposed to go \u2014 at least according to most of the rest of NATO.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In June, Sweden, Finland, and Turkey reached a memorandum of understanding to try to assuage some of Erdo\u011fan\u2019s concerns. Sweden and Finland lifted their arms blockades and agreed to a series of steps to cooperate with Turkey<\/a> on terrorism-related issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Erdo\u011fan is pushing for more concessions, especially from Sweden. Some of the demands are wholly unrealistic<\/a>, such as a request to extradite 130 purported \u201cterrorists\u201d<\/a> to Turkey. As experts pointed out, Turkey operates under a pretty shaky definition of terrorism, and things that Erdo\u011fan might consider terrorism look a lot more like freedom of speech in Sweden. Additionally, even in things like extradition, Sweden and Finland can\u2019t just arbitrarily arrest people; it has to go through the judicial system, and the accused have due process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, recent anti-Turkey protests in Stockholm and the burning of the Quran by one far-right protester have soured talks even further. Turkey condemned the burningas \u201canti-Islam,\u201d with the Turkish Foreign Ministry saying that allowing such acts \u201cunder the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable.\u201d<\/a> Turkey then scrapped<\/a> talks with Swedish officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden also condemned the act and the protests (which were actually anti-NATO protests). \u201cThis act plays directly into the hands of Russia and weakens our country, and it happened during the most serious security situation since the Second World War,\u201d said<\/a>. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstr\u00f6m<\/a>. (The book burner was reportedly funded by a journalist with Kremlin ties<\/a>.) But, at the same time, Sweden said, the whole thing wasn\u2019t actually against Swedish law, even if they were angry about it, too.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sweden and Finland are still trying to work something out, with Sweden introducing a law Thursday that would ban certain activities that could support terrorist organizations<\/a>. Washington and Brussels are increasingly annoyed, with some leaders being pretty vocal <\/a>about Turkey\u2019s disloyalty. Congress has said Ankara will not get<\/a> American-made F-16s<\/a> (more on that later) unless it approves the NATO bids. More people are also saying that maybe NATO should just kick Turkey out<\/a> (no more on that because, while it\u2019s noteworthy politicians are even talking about it, experts said it\u2019s not realistic andthe mechanisms to do so are pretty fuzzy). Turkey, meanwhile, has basically said talks are meaningless in the current climate, though it floated the possibility of backing Finland for NATO, just not Sweden<\/a> \u2014 something Finland immediately rejected<\/a>, as the two Nordic countries are very close, and they purposely sought a joint bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the standoff may stay this way, at least until May \u2014 which is when Erdo\u011fan and his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party are facing a difficult election.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Erdo\u011fan\u2019s obstinance is causing real frustration in Washington<\/a> and throughout European capitals. This is not exactly new; even before Erdo\u011fan, Turkey was always something of a NATO misfit \u2014 incredibly useful to the alliance because of its unique position, but also a power whose interests and perspectives did not always align with the rest of the alliance members.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vox.com\/world\/23581876\/turkey-sweden-finland-nato-membership<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Erdo\u011fan, specifically, is raising new objections to the ascension of Finland and especially Sweden over what Turkey perceives as the latter\u2019s lax policies toward Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other groups that Turkey deems terrorist organizations. Most recently, Erdo\u011fan has used a far-right politician\u2019s burning of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm to harden his opposition to Sweden\u2019s NATO bid.
\nAll NATO members must approve new ones, so Erdo\u011fan\u2019s opposition is effectively a veto. The Turkish president is not alone in declining support\u2014 Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n is also holding out, for now \u2014 but Erdo\u011fan is seen as the more legitimate roadblock. Erdo\u011fan is flexing his foreign policy power and influence, and seeking to improve his domestic political position, especially ahead of difficult elections this May.<\/p>\n

\u201cErdo\u011fan thinks Turkey has leverage. Erdo\u011fan thinks Turkey has justifiable grievances about Sweden\u2019s policies. Erdo\u011fan thinks he has an opportunity to use that leverage to address those grievances in a way that would be good for Turkey\u2019s national interests. And, in addition to all of that, the entire issue is good for Erdo\u011fan politically,\u201d said Nicholas Danforth, editor at War on the Rocks and nonresident senior research fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy.<\/p>\n

Given all that, it\u2019s not really surprising this spat over the Nordic countries\u2019 NATO membership is dragging out. But this is also really not how the script was supposed to go \u2014 at least according to most of the rest of NATO.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“In June, Sweden, Finland, and Turkey reached a memorandum of understanding to try to assuage some of Erdo\u011fan\u2019s concerns. Sweden and Finland lifted their arms blockades and agreed to a series of steps to cooperate with Turkey on terrorism-related issues.<\/p>\n

But Erdo\u011fan is pushing for more concessions, especially from Sweden. Some of the demands are wholly unrealistic, such as a request to extradite 130 purported \u201cterrorists\u201d to Turkey. As experts pointed out, Turkey operates under a pretty shaky definition of terrorism, and things that Erdo\u011fan might consider terrorism look a lot more like freedom of speech in Sweden. Additionally, even in things like extradition, Sweden and Finland can\u2019t just arbitrarily arrest people; it has to go through the judicial system, and the accused have due process.<\/p>\n

Then, recent anti-Turkey protests in Stockholm and the burning of the Quran by one far-right protester have soured talks even further. Turkey condemned the burning as \u201canti-Islam,\u201d with the Turkish Foreign Ministry saying that allowing such acts \u201cunder the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable.\u201d Turkey then scrapped talks with Swedish officials.<\/p>\n

Sweden also condemned the act and the protests (which were actually anti-NATO protests). \u201cThis act plays directly into the hands of Russia and weakens our country, and it happened during the most serious security situation since the Second World War,\u201d said. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstr\u00f6m. (The book burner was reportedly funded by a journalist with Kremlin ties.) But, at the same time, Sweden said, the whole thing wasn\u2019t actually against Swedish law, even if they were angry about it, too.” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Sweden and Finland are still trying to work something out, with Sweden introducing a law Thursday that would ban certain activities that could support terrorist organizations. Washington and Brussels are increasingly annoyed, with some leaders being pretty vocal about Turkey\u2019s disloyalty. Congress has said Ankara will not get American-made F-16s (more on that later) unless it approves the NATO bids. More people are also saying that maybe NATO should just kick Turkey out (no more on that because, while it\u2019s noteworthy politicians are even talking about it, experts said it\u2019s not realistic and the mechanisms to do so are pretty fuzzy). Turkey, meanwhile, has basically said talks are meaningless in the current climate, though it floated the possibility of backing Finland for NATO, just not Sweden \u2014 something Finland immediately rejected, as the two Nordic countries are very close, and they purposely sought a joint bid.<\/p>\n

And the standoff may stay this way, at least until May \u2014 which is when Erdo\u011fan and his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party are facing a difficult election.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Erdo\u011fan\u2019s obstinance is causing real frustration in Washington and throughout European capitals. This is not exactly new; even before Erdo\u011fan, Turkey was always something of a NATO misfit \u2014 incredibly useful to the alliance because of its unique position, but also a power whose interests and perspectives did not always align with the rest of the alliance members.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1366,552,1695,272,355,314,1545,1070,1696,315,465,115,418,311,619,158],"class_list":["post-10167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-allies","tag-conflict","tag-finland","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-policy","tag-international-relations","tag-invasion","tag-nato","tag-pkk","tag-russia","tag-sweden","tag-terrorists","tag-turkey","tag-ukraine","tag-united-states","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10168,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167\/revisions\/10168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}