Turkey Threatening to Leave NATO? Good Riddance... and I Hope the Door Hits Them on the Way Out!
Turkey's president threatened a major blow to the US — but Trump looks to have called his bluff
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening to leave NATO and the West behind for a long time, but he really doesn't have other good options.
Turkey engages in several behaviors that the rest of NATO finds unhelpful or downright toxic.
US President Donald Trump's sanctions on Turkey have tanked its economy — but instead of making good on the threats to walk, Turkey is holding on for dear life.
Turkey's economy has been poorly managed and relies on huge influxes of cash, which other potential allies like Russia or Iran just can't provide.
[quote]Turkey's economic woes are partly caused by a dispute over the fate of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor whose release Trump reportedly lobbied unsuccessfully for, prompting US sanctions that are contributing to the crisis.
Turkey has cozy relations with Russia and Iran, and Erdogan's suggestion that Ankara could find "new friends" seems tailor-made to bring fear to European and North American capitals.
But according to Jonathan Eyal, the international director of the Royal United Services Institute, Turkey has long been looking for other friends and allies, and that's part of the problem.
"Turkey has no intention of respecting the American sanctions on Iran," Eyal told Business Insider. "It has also said it respects none of the American priorities in Syria. It has offered to buy Russian missiles and other equipment."
He added: "At every count and on every part, it's gone against not only the US interests, but the interests of the Western alliance."
Turkey's on-again, off-again proposal to buy Russian missile defenses, for example, shows how the country has frequently courted over-the-line behavior much to the anger of NATO.
If Turkey were to buy Russian missile defenses, Russia would get a window into NATO's first line of defense. With the US's trillion-dollar F-35 stealth jet coming online specifically as an effort to defeat Russian defenses in the case of war, this represents a hard red line, and Congress has acted accordingly by banning the sale of F-35s to Turkey.[/quote]
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/350166c8-2996-32e9-9189-c5e7db41eabe/ss_turkey%27s-president-threatened.html
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening to leave NATO and the West behind for a long time, but he really doesn't have other good options.
Turkey engages in several behaviors that the rest of NATO finds unhelpful or downright toxic.
US President Donald Trump's sanctions on Turkey have tanked its economy — but instead of making good on the threats to walk, Turkey is holding on for dear life.
Turkey's economy has been poorly managed and relies on huge influxes of cash, which other potential allies like Russia or Iran just can't provide.
[quote]Turkey's economic woes are partly caused by a dispute over the fate of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor whose release Trump reportedly lobbied unsuccessfully for, prompting US sanctions that are contributing to the crisis.
Turkey has cozy relations with Russia and Iran, and Erdogan's suggestion that Ankara could find "new friends" seems tailor-made to bring fear to European and North American capitals.
But according to Jonathan Eyal, the international director of the Royal United Services Institute, Turkey has long been looking for other friends and allies, and that's part of the problem.
"Turkey has no intention of respecting the American sanctions on Iran," Eyal told Business Insider. "It has also said it respects none of the American priorities in Syria. It has offered to buy Russian missiles and other equipment."
He added: "At every count and on every part, it's gone against not only the US interests, but the interests of the Western alliance."
Turkey's on-again, off-again proposal to buy Russian missile defenses, for example, shows how the country has frequently courted over-the-line behavior much to the anger of NATO.
If Turkey were to buy Russian missile defenses, Russia would get a window into NATO's first line of defense. With the US's trillion-dollar F-35 stealth jet coming online specifically as an effort to defeat Russian defenses in the case of war, this represents a hard red line, and Congress has acted accordingly by banning the sale of F-35s to Turkey.[/quote]
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/350166c8-2996-32e9-9189-c5e7db41eabe/ss_turkey%27s-president-threatened.html
36-40, F
