Erdogan’s dangerous game with NATO: He chooses the card of nationalism, moves away from the West

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The conflict with the USA, the threats to Greece, the veto for Sweden, Finland in NATO are the fronts that the Turkish president keeps open – New front with Denmark – “Ice” from Washington for the F-16

A course opposite to that of the western world seems to be drawn by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, opening more and more fronts, the main one being the one against the USA. As reported by SKAI’s correspondent in Istanbul, Manolis Kostidis, the Turkish president seems to be choosing the card of nationalism, presenting himself as the only defender of Islam, with the ultimate goal of course, his re-election on May 14.

Erdoğan does not seem willing to budge, even though he sees in practice that the tactics of the hard bargain are no longer paying off. Ankara already accuses the US of cooperating with and supporting Greece, ministers of the Turkish government directly blamed Washington for the recent terrorist attack in Istanbul, while on the occasion of Mike Pompeo’s book, Mevlut Cavusoglu lashed out at the former CIA commander and former US Secretary of State, that he was behind the 2016 coup.

At the same time, Turkey has blocked the accession of Sweden and Finland to the NATO, opening a front of harsh confrontation, especially with Stockholm, on the occasion of the Kurdish demonstrations. Just today, Ankara opened a new front, this time with Denmark, also on the issue of the Kurds.

Erdogan wants to win the election at any cost

Everything shows that Erdogan chooses his political survival, i.e. winning the elections, over the interest of his country. Mevlut Cavusoglu’s meeting with Anthony Blinken was indicative of the relationship – which has now been formed – between the two countries. Turkey secured absolutely no benefits, as Washington directly linked the issue of Turkish F-16 modernization with Sweden and Finland joining NATO, as well as threats and provocative actions against Greece and Cyprus.

The positions of US government officials were typical. During a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday, Senator Jin Sahin asked how the US administration was dealing with Turkey’s request for F-16s under the weight of new data emerging after Ankara’s refusal to support the Sweden’s accession to NATO. US Deputy Secretary of State Celeste Wallander responded that “at every opportunity the Department of Defense raises exactly the same issues with our Turkish allies and reinforces (the message) that in the democratic processes that support American foreign policy, Congress plays an important role, and it should be taken seriously.” into account”.

Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland seemed to be on the same wavelength, assuring that the US is constantly raising the issue of Sweden and Finland with the Turkish side, which has been informed that congressional support is necessary to improve security. her. As he characteristically noted, “almost all (our allies) have ratified (the accession protocol) with the exception of Hungary and Turkey. This (issue) comes up in every conversation we have with Turkey and we tried with the Swedes, as you know, to put forward a road map that they will work out with Turkey. They have accomplished many of these milestones and continue to strive to do more in this direction. We have said the same to our Turkish allies, as you just said we need the support of this Congress to move forward with the security improvements we believe they need as allies. The Congress is likely to look much more favorably on the matter after ratification.

For her part, Senator Jin Sahin said she would not support the delivery of F-16s to Turkey until Ankara ratifies its membership. Sweden and her Finland in NATO. In addition, he acknowledged that there are other issues related to this particular defense contract. As he characteristically noted, “I think that several of my colleagues share this concern. I know there are other issues surrounding the F-16, but I just want to put that on the table as one of the concerns I have. I think that Sweden has moved very well to address the concerns that have been discussed with Turkey regarding its NATO membership, and that unfortunately President Erdogan is taking advantage of this issue. He seems to be doing it to serve his own domestic political interests rather than really dealing with what is in the best interests of NATO and the security arrangement we need as we support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.”

The opposition does not find them for the common candidate

The Turkish president appears to be running alone and coming… second in the polls, as the opposition parties, despite the fact that there is now a specific date for the elections (May 14), are unable to reach an agreement on a common candidate.

Turkish opposition parties say that Erdogan’s candidacy is illegitimate, but since they don’t nominate a specific candidate, it’s like “shooting themselves in the foot” and offering the Turkish president another term.

The representative of the ruling party and former minister Omer Çelik responded to the announcement of the six parties saying that there is no question of Erdoğan’s candidacy, that they are playing undemocratically and that they will learn their lesson at the polls from the people.

Opinion polls show that Turkish voters prefer either the mayor of Istanbul or the mayor of Ankara as his opponent. However, everything will depend on two factors, at least according to the data available to us today: 1) The attitude of the Kurdish party and the Kurdish voters, 2) When and if the opposition will nominate a common candidate.

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