Is Turkey about to be kicked out of NATO?
Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 04/04/2019 - 1:48pm
It looks like Turkey and NATO are about to undergo an ugly divorce.
First up is VP Mike Pence.
US Vice President Mike Pence warned Turkey on Wednesday that it could risk its membership in NATO if it goes ahead with plans to buy a Russian air defence system despite widespread international opposition.
...
"Turkey must choose," Pence said. "Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in the history of the world or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?"
That's some strong rhetoric, but Turkey was not impressed.
Turkey's Vice President Fuad Oktay replied on Twitter saying that "The United States must choose" about whether to remain allied with Ankara. He raised the contentious relationship of US support for Kurdish forces in Syria, accusing Washington of "joining forces with terrorists".
Turkey's foreign minister, however, appeared unmoved by the US threats, saying that buying the Russian S-400 system "is a done deal. We will not step back from this."
If this was just Pence, that would be one thing, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making threats as well.
Amid the continuing standoff in Syria over US withdrawal and Turkish desire to carry the fight to US-allied Kurdish militias in the country, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Ankara in no uncertain terms that if Turkish forces took unilateral military action in Syria, it would have "devastating" consequences.
That's an alarming word to use. Is Pompeo saying that we will attack Turkish forces if they attack the SDF east of Euphrates? Because the Turkish army says that it is ready to invade eastern Syria.
Based on the experience in Afrin, things will not go smoothly for anyone.
meanwhile, Turkey is speaking truth to power.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed the United States’ Syria strategy and Middle East peace plan, saying Wednesday that one was underdeveloped and the other might not exist.
“It seems that there is no clear strategy yet” by the U.S. to dial back its military presence in Syria, Cavusoglu said in an interview with PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff.
...
Turkey’s foreign minister also said he doubted the existence of a U.S. peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians — an effort that Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner has been leading for the U.S.. “Until today, there is no peace plan,” Cavusoglu said. “We are not sure whether there will be.”
...“Everybody believes the U.S. is no longer a balanced or objective” leader on the world stage, he said.
I can't argue with any of that.
Comments
Turkey asks U.S. not to meddle
irony alert
So - Trump is a Putin puppet
supposedly. So why doesn't Putin want Turkey to buy Russian missiless?
Time for NATO to go anyway. The EU, with or without the UK, needs to have it's own integrated armed forces and not be Washington's lapdog. It was different when Europe, victor and vanquished both, were devastated. But three generations have passed since then.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I don’t think integrated E.U. armed forces are such a hot idea
De facto they would be under French command, since Brexit leaves France as the only member of the E.U. with nuclear weapons.
And armed forces loyal only to a central — de facto imperial — abstraction, rather than any traditional nation, can easily wind up being deployed against the common people of any European region or traditional nation.
It’s reinventing the (E.)U.S.S.R. — call it the union of crony-controlled capitalist republics.
Beats being under US command.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
America has dragged the world into a reality show
This performative huffing and puffing is beyond ridiculous. Is the success formula that the bigger the public tantrum, the more likely Washington gets its way? I know this will never happen, but I chuckled at the prospect of every European country quitting NATO and then re-forming NATO without the United States.
My favourite part was that clown Palladino with “Free and fair elections are essential for any democracy. That means acceptance of legitimate election results, which is essential.” AS IF. Work in the phrase "rat's ass" and you'll be in the right ballpark of what they all really think.
Mr. War
Between Pence, Pompeo, and Bolton, I'm not sure I could identify who is more guilty of pushing for war ... hell, any war - but especially any war that involves the Middle East. But, actually, I think I can ......
I'm assuming that Pence is mouthing words at the direction of Trump, who is clearly dangling by strings held by the madman Bolton. Pompeo appears to be a protege of Bolton, but it's hard to say as Pompeo is an opportunist, willing to do the bidding of whoever hoists his banner the highest. I'm assuming that Pompeo is still owned lock, stock, and barrel by the Kochs - and has been since his carpetbagger days in Kansas.
Since this beating of the war drums from the Trump administration largely began with the arrival of Bolton, putting the blame on him is an easy link for me to make. The campaigner Trump who wanted to get out of NATO, stop the various regime-change schemes, and have civil relations with Russia is long vanished. His supporters who, during the campaign, noted those points as a difference between Trump and Clinton seem to either not notice or care.
As for the people of Turkey, Bolton could give a damn. If he sees an antagonistic policy toward Turkey as furthering his goal of large scale war in the Middle East, then Turkey will be sacrificed. Any excuse whatsoever to bring America into a war in the Middle East will do.
Bolton is about war. All war, all the time. As best as I can tell, he is the most evil human on the planet. Bolton is death on two legs ... with a mustache he hides behind. He wanted to run for president, but it turns out he didn't need to do so in order to run the show.
Bolton's #1! nt
Shouldn't have tried to remove Erdogan
Erdogan claimed the US was behind the coup attempt on him. And there are reports that Putin warned Erdogan that a coup was being staged as it was happening--thus saving his butt.
Sorta remarkable in a way. Turkey shots down a Russian bomber, and now Turkey has better relations with Russia than the US.
It seems the diplomacy of making public threats is the favored way of establishment dems and gopers.
Erdogan thinks that, like the Saudis and the Israelis,
he is now in a strategically solid enough position that he can do pretty much whatever he wants.
The international community has been totally ineffectual in prying loose Turkey’s grip on half of E.U. member (!) Cyprus.
The international community has been totally ineffectual in prying loose Morocco’s grip on Western Sahara.
It goes without saying that the international community has been totally ineffectual in loosening Israel’s grip on the Golan or the West Bank.
Why shouldn’t Erdogan think that, like Israel, if he makes perfunctory noises about Turkey’s security interests and plays his cards right, he can grab a piece of Syria too?
If Turkey was to lose NATO membership
increased tensions with Greece would be an issue.
Right now, they're supposed allies, given their mutual alliance status.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.