Until the end, Turkey will have pushed its advantage. Recep Tayyip Erdogan played the disruptive, threatening his NATO allies not to sign the final declaration of the meeting of the 70e Anniversary of the Alliance, London. At the beginning of the day, Wednesday, December 4, the Turkish president did not say a word, nor let his mood show. Is it because his strategy of tension has produced nothing decisive for his benefit?
After raising the disapproval of all for its offensive launched in Syria in October, against the Kurds, previously allied with the American coalition against the Islamic State (IS) organization, Ankara had multiplied the provocations.
As a prelude to the London meeting, President Erdogan did not hesitate, as his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron accused him of "Take hostage the defense plans of Poland and the Baltics, demanding that the allies declare the Kurds YPG (People's Protection Units) as a terrorist group ". It has also blocked – since all NATO decisions are taken unanimously by the twenty-nine member states – a mission in the Black Sea. The Turkish delegation, finally, torpedoed the passage of the final declaration on the relations between the European Union and NATO, at the moment when Ankara provokes sharp incidents with another ally, Greece, by sending boats in the waters Cypriot.
Turkey has been "a big help", according to Trump
Tuesday in London, everything starts so bad, after the failure of an attempt conciliation in the evening on the terrorist issue. German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to convince Recep Tayyip Erdogan to show 'Flexibility', says a Turkish source. The Baltic and Polish allies are tempted to give in on Ankara's request, so as not to compromise the NATO reinforcements they are waiting for against Russia. Turkish officials demand that NATO refer to a 2015 text, in which eight member countries had recognized the terrorist nature of the YPG. Before returning the ball to France: since Paris mentions terrorism as " priority " for NATO, that it solves the problem!
In the afternoon, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Turkey are trying to advance on the Syrian subject in a special meeting. "We have not lifted the disagreement today"admits Emmanuel Macron at his end. "France sues the PKK (Workers' Party of Kurdistan) as a terrorist organization ", he notes, but related groups "With whom the coalition has fought can not be described as terrorist groups. We must not forget who was able to fight Daesh. And the French president to add, asking Donald Trump to help clarify this point: "Turkey sometimes works with local ISI relays. "
