Politics
In meeting with the United States, Turkey gives mixed signals on NATO enlargement
WASHINGTON (AP) The United States struggled on Wednesday to get clarification from Turkey on the seriousness of its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, as the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken an increasingly hard line against their membership bids.
In a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the United Nations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gave mixed signals. He affirmed his country’s support for NATO’s open-door policy and his understanding of Finland’s and Sweden’s desire to join the alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But he also repeated Erdogan’s demands that Turkey’s security concerns over candidate countries be taken into account.
Turkey supported NATO’s open door policy even before this war,” he said. “But with regard to these candidate countries, we also have legitimate security concerns because they support terrorist organizations and there are also export restrictions on defence. products, he said.
We understand their security concerns, but Turkey’s security concerns must also be met and this is an issue we must continue to discuss with our friends and allies, including the United States, Cavusoglu said.
Later, speaking to Turkish journalists, Cavusoglu stepped up his criticism, accusing Sweden not only of supporting groups linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, but also of supplying arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters, which Turkey sees as an extension of the militant group. .
Everyone says Turkey’s concerns must be addressed, but it must not just be done with words, it must be implemented, he said.
His remarks came as US officials try to figure out how serious the often mercurial Erdogan is about it and what it would take to back him down. In the meantime, US officials have essentially ignored Erdogan’s comments in their public statements.
Without acknowledging Erdogan’s complaints about Finland and Sweden, Blinken stressed that Washington would work to ensure the success of the NATO enlargement process.
Today Finland and Sweden submitted their applications and this, of course, is a process and we will work through this process as allies and partners, Blinken said.
Underscoring the sensitivity of the delicate diplomacy needed to deal with a recalcitrant ally in a 30-member alliance that depends on consensus, US officials declined to comment on Turkey’s position. A joint statement released after Wednesday’s meeting made no mention of Finland or Sweden at all and made only a passing reference to NATO.
The six-sentence statement said the two met to reaffirm their close cooperation as NATO partners and allies and pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation through constructive and open dialogue.
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price repeatedly said that “it is not for us to speak on behalf of the Turkish government when asked about Turkey’s position.
At stake for the United States and its NATO partners is an opportunity to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by strengthening and expanding the alliance in contrast to what President Vladimir Putin hoped to achieve by starting the war.
But Erdogan’s suggestions that he could derail Sweden and Finland’s membership hopes also highlight a potential weakness that Putin has tried to exploit in the past, the heavy-handed nature of the consensual alliance. where a single member can block actions supported by the other 29.
Initially viewed in Washington and other NATO capitals as a minor, easily resolved distraction in the alliance’s enlargement process following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the verbal salvoes of Erdogan to Finland and Sweden raise more concerns as the two Nordic countries submitted formal requests on Wednesday. hoping to join as soon as possible.
Even if overcome, objections from Turkey, which is the only one of NATO’s 30 members to have reservations about enlargement so far, could delay Finnish and Sweden to the alliance, especially if other countries follow suit seeking concessions. for their votes.
Erdogan, who has become increasingly authoritarian over the years, is known to be an unpredictable leader and there have been occasions when his words have clearly contradicted what Turkish diplomats or other senior officials his government said.
I do not rule out a possible disconnect between Turkish diplomats and Erdogan. In the past, there have been examples of such a disconnect, said Barcin Yinanc, a journalist and Turkish foreign policy commentator.
For example, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Berlin on Sunday after talks with Turkish officials that Turkey had made it clear that its intention was not to block membership. Meanwhile, Blinken and other foreign ministers, including Germany’s top diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, expressed absolute confidence that all NATO members, including Turkey, would welcome the two new Venus.
Yet on Monday and Wednesday again, Erdogan surprised many by doubling down on his criticism of Finland and Sweden, accusing them of supporting Kurdish activists and others whom Turkey considers terrorists and to impose restrictions on military sales to Turkey.
Gonul Tol, director of the Turkey program at the Middle East Institute, said that although Erdogan often speaks with a hard line, he tends to come back at the end and do the rational thing.
Erdogan is unpredictable. But at the same time, he’s a very pragmatic actor, she says. Tol said Erdogan likes to negotiate and pushes for maximalist demands during negotiations. He ends up settling for much less than that, she said.
She noted that Erdogan’s grievances with Western countries over the Kurds are nothing new and tensions between Turkey and the United States over military supplies have been going on for a long time.
After being withdrawn from the F-35 advanced fighter development program after buying a Russian air defense system, Turkey pressured the United States to sell it new F-16 fighters or, at any rate the least, refurbish its existing fleet. Although unrelated to the issue of NATO enlargement, resolutions on either could help persuade Erdogan to drop his objections.
Cavusoglu said Wednesday that his talks about it were positive but did not provide details.
___
Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.
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