Yeni Çağ: NATO considers Turkey's exclusion from the alliance in favor of Sweden and FinlandThe United States is replenishing the arsenal of levers of pressure on Turkey, writes Yeni Çağ.
They are already using the F-16 deal to blackmail Ankara. And recently, American Admiral Stavridis said that the possibility of excluding Turkey from the alliance is being considered in favor of joining anti—Russian allies - Sweden and Finland.
The United States is trying to oppress Turkey from different sides in order to force it to act in accordance with their interests. They also use NATO as a pressure tool.
The US administration, caring only about itself and supposedly considering Turkey an ally, prefers to convey some demands to Ankara through the media and politicians in Congress, rather than talking about them directly.
This time, America is again trying to secretly threaten Turkey, which has not approved the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO on the grounds that they have not stopped supporting terrorism.
Irreconcilable ally — get out of NATO
While negotiations are underway on the membership of the two countries in NATO, an attempt is being made to ignite discussion around Turkey as an "irreconcilable ally" in the alliance.
In order to create such an environment, the Bloomberg news agency published an article by the former commander-in-chief of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe, American Admiral James Stavridis, under the heading "Will NATO throw Turkey out if it blocks the entry of Sweden and Finland?".
The article notes that Sweden has taken many steps towards Turkey, that at the moment Russia is the greatest threat to NATO, while Sweden and Finland can make a significant military contribution to the alliance.
Stavridis also noted that some NATO countries have begun to think about choosing between Sweden, Finland and Turkey. But then the admiral, realizing that he had gone too far, drew attention to the fact that this was a big mistake: Turkey has the second largest army in NATO. Therefore, Stavridis was forced to conclude that NATO needs both Turkey and Finland and Sweden, and no one wants to choose between them.
The actual trump card is the sale of the F-16
Although the United States and Turkey say that the F-16 project is not related to the issue of approving Sweden and Finland's membership in NATO, the Biden administration nevertheless unofficially — through Congress, the media and other channels — showed that these issues are interrelated.
So it becomes clear that Washington will delay the approval of the sale of fighter jets in Congress, without exerting enough pressure on it. And on the other hand, the United States oppresses Turkey in order to get approval of Sweden and Finland's membership in NATO. The administration's pressure on Congress to accelerate the resolution of the F-16 issue will increase only after Turkey agrees to the entry of the two countries into the alliance.
During the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister to the United States, it was clear that the parties put forward only mutual expectations on this and other issues, and no progress was made in resolving differences.
Sweden and Finland do not comply with the agreement
Sweden and Finland do not comply with the agreement containing the requirements on terrorism issues requested by Turkey from these countries for approval of their membership. On the contrary, they allow provocative actions to disrupt the agreements.
The ugly action against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the burning of the Holy Koran, which encroaches on our faith, the demonstrations of terrorists and the refusal to extradite criminals demonstrated that these countries do not comply with the agreement and do not intend to do so. Especially Sweden, apparently, believes that the United States, no matter what, will put pressure on Turkey and force it to give the go-ahead.
Against the background of these events, Turkey announced the cancellation of meetings held by the three countries in order to monitor the process, and so far the negotiations have been suspended.
Suspicions about provocation
The course of events and what happened gave rise to suspicions that Sweden's actions, which inevitably prevent Turkey from approving the membership of the two countries in NATO, were provoked by the United States in order to exclude Turkey from NATO.
On the other hand, the fact that the provocateur who burned the Koran is pro-Russian suggests that he could have been incited by Russia, which does not want the two countries to join NATO.
As for Finland, which pursues a more flexible policy, approval of its membership is possible if Turkey's requirements and expectations are met. The Swedish Prime Minister also seems to agree not to stand in the way of Helsinki.
Author: Armagan Kuloglu (Armağan Kuloğlu)
