Turkey will be in NATO no matter what

Editorial Board, Daily Sabah

image from

Excerpt:

After decades side by side, there are some allies that are troubled by Turkey's membership. Aware that the charter of the organization precludes Turkey's dismissal, they prefer to harass it so much that it will quit on its own. If that is what they are after, they are sorely mistaken. Turkey will continue to be an integral part of the alliance and will patiently fight back against all efforts of bullying and injustice.

However, the conduct of some members will continue to harm the alliance itself, and they are blind to the fact that without Turkey, as a geo-political heavyweight and a regional lynchpin, NATO will face significant problems in the near future.

The world's strongest security alliance seems impotent and confused when confronted with the dangers of our time.

There is also some legitimacy to the severe criticisms directed by the Turkish public toward NATO. The public believes NATO has practically deserted Turkey against the many security threats it faces. If NATO fails to adapt to the new age we are in and becomes a more efficient organization, it will, unfortunately, soon start to lose the trust of the publics of other alliance members.

The recent spate of public diplomacy disasters by NATO and the West toward Turkey could have been seen as flukes only if they had not followed similar "slip-ups" before. The increased frequency of these disasters give the impression that these are intentional, not coincidental.

The insulting way President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was portrayed as the enemy in NATO documents during a recent drill in Norway seems more like mistakes made on purpose. At least that is what the Turkish public thinks. ...