There is indeed a “Turkish problem” in NATO and, after having long concealed it, the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, himself put it on the table, Thursday 22 and Friday 23 October, when a meeting – by videoconference – of Alliance defense ministers. The subject was not explicitly on the menu of discussions, but the multiplication of disputes with Ankara forced the Norwegian diplomat to leave his cautious comments on what he had limited until now to designate as “A precious ally”.
The unilateral offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces and Kurdish militias in northern Syria in 2019; drilling in Cypriot and Greek territorial waters in the eastern Mediterranean; the contribution to the violation of the arms bound for Libya and the incident with a French frigate trying to control this embargo, or the recent involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, even with the delivery of Syrian mercenaries: the multiplication of Turkish initiatives, and the resulting tensions with several allies, means that, henceforth, “There is an elephant in the room, and it is getting bigger and bigger”, in the words of a NATO diplomat.
Sanctions
A last, not insignificant element has been added to this list of problems: the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed on Friday what the Turkish media had been talking about for a week: his country did test the S- missiles. 400 that he bought from Russia, despite all the warnings he received from his allies. “These tests will continue”, indicated Mr. Erdogan, in a message addressed in particular to the United States.
The American response was not long in coming. The US Department of Defense has condemned “In the strongest terms” the test carried out by Turkey on October 16 of the S-400 air defense system. “We are opposed to Turkey testing this system, it could have serious consequences for our defense relations”, warned Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman.
When the first missile battery had been delivered, Washington had in fact suspended Turkish participation in the development program of the F-35 warplane, believing that the S-400 system would allow the technology to break through. Before the confirmation of the first test, the US Secretary of State considered that this operation would be incompatible with Ankara’s role within NATO and its status as “Strategic partner” the United States.
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