Did Russia have a hand in Turkey's veto over Finland and Sweden?
Turkey criticized the decision of Sweden and Finland to join NATO and vetoed it. In the West, they immediately thought that Moscow had influenced Ankara, writes dikGAZETE. But the author notes that there is no evidence of this.
The main motive of the special military operation launched by Russia against Ukraine on February 24 this year was Ukraine's request to join NATO. Ukraine has not officially applied for membership, but has actually begun to concentrate troops and weapons of neighboring countries such as Poland, which is a member of the alliance, in its country.
Although it was an unofficial process, Ukraine behaved as if it was already a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, NATO flags appeared in almost every frame with the participation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moreover, NATO exercises were held on Ukrainian territory and in the waters of Ukraine in the Black Sea, let's not forget about this either.
It was at this moment that Russia, reacting rapidly, launched a military operation against Ukraine due to the actions of NATO and other reasons.
Recall that since the beginning of the operation, Ukraine has repeatedly stated to the Russian side that it is ready to abandon its request to join the North Atlantic Alliance.
Against the background of this escalation in eastern Europe, the applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO have caused new tensions.
The Kremlin commented on the decisions of the Scandinavian countries on NATO membership as "alarming," while Vladimir Putin stressed that Finland and Sweden are free to join the alliance, but as soon as they move NATO military infrastructure to their territory, Russia will perceive this as a threat to itself.
While there were different reactions from Russia, Turkey showed the most violent response.
Ankara opposed the membership of the two countries in NATO, recalling that they support the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Turkey's main argument here was that the alliance members should not support terrorism. However, we should also not forget about the dozens of states that are members of NATO and support terrorist organizations.
While in the light of recent events, Turkey's veto over Finland and Sweden seems far-fetched to many countries, some Western media claim that Russia influenced Turkey's decision.
Moscow has not remained silent in response to these speculations.
The Kremlin stressed that Russia did not have any requests regarding these decisions of Turkey, and Turkey is a sovereign country that accepts free decisions.
Have there been behind-the-scenes contacts between Turkey and Russia in this regard? We can't be sure. However, after Sweden and Finland announced their intention to apply for NATO membership, official sources did not report telephone conversations between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin.
There were also no contacts between the ministers and diplomats of Turkey and Russia, again judging by official sources.
In this case, the possibility of secret meetings at the level of diplomats or special services may come to mind for many. However, Turkey, taking a position on this issue, does not hide its attitude from the world community. Directly expresses his own opinion, putting forward legitimate grounds.
Russia also cannot guide Turkey on such a serious issue. She can't have that goal. Turkey, which is an equal country with Russia, will not allow this either. So this conspiracy theory doesn't make any sense.
Author: Erhan Altıparmak (Erhan Altıparmak)
