Turkey moves away from NATO as it forges rapprochement with Russia
Ankara has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for almost seven decades. Turkey joined before other European countries such as West Germany, Spain and Poland. Moreover, for a number of years its army was the largest in the Alliance after the US. However, the difficult relationship between Turkey and its neighbour Greece has created strong controversy within the organisation. Athens, like Ankara, joined NATO in 1952, but left in 1974 because of Turkey's invasion of part of Cyprus.
Greece would return years later, in 1980, after strenuous efforts by NATO members, particularly the United States, to get Athens to return and Ankara not to oppose it through the veto. The Cyprus crisis was only a trigger for the strong enmity between Turkey and Greece, due, among other things, to the historical dispute over sovereignty in the Aegean Sea.
In this respect, Turkey's invasion of Cyprus drove a wedge into the Alliance, even though Greece accused NATO of inaction and the United States continued to regard Turkey as a key ally in the region. For a long time, criticism of Turkey among NATO members came exclusively from Athens, but recently this trend has changed. A few years ago, other members have joined the criticism due to decisions and actions taken by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Military offensives in northern Syria, oil exploration near Cyprus, confrontation with Greek ships in the eastern Mediterranean, and with French ships off the coast of Libya, where it also maintains mercenaries. These are just some of the moves that have created the most controversy within the Alliance. On the other hand, it is also necessary to highlight Erdogan's authoritarian and expansionist drift, which has also led to a deterioration in his ties with the European Union.
However, what undoubtedly causes the most misgivings in an organisation where the United States plays a key role is the rapprochement that Turkey is developing with Russia. At a time when many experts and analysts speak of a "new Cold War" due to rising tensions between Washington and Moscow in areas such as the Black Sea, Erdogan's plans to move closer to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, are seen as a threat among NATO members and, more specifically, in the White House.
Erdogan has made several military deals with Russia, including the purchase of the S-400 air defence system. The purchase of these anti-aircraft missiles cost Turkey US sanctions, and Washington expelled Ankara from the F35 fighter-bomber purchase programme. "Turkey has had multiple opportunities over the past decade to purchase the US Patriot defence system, and instead chose to purchase the S-400, which provides Russia with revenue, access and influence," said former military official John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.
Meanwhile, Robert Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reaffirmed on his Twitter account that Washington will sanction "any entity that does significant business with the Russian military or intelligence sectors".
Despite efforts to improve ties between Washington and Ankara, the two countries continue in the same vein. "The signs are not good in Turkey's relations with the United States," Erdogan told reporters after returning from New York following the UN General Assembly summit.
The Turkish president has ignored US threats and anger as he has continued to strengthen military ties with Russia. "In the future, no one will be able to intervene in terms of what kind of defence systems we acquire, from which country and at what level," he said. Erdogan also stressed that his government is the "only one" that can intervene in "making such decisions".
Following a summit in the Russian city of Sochi, the Turkish president announced that he would work with Russia to produce new fighter-bombers, military vessels and submarines. "We had the opportunity to thoroughly discuss what steps to take in the production of engines and aircraft and fighter jets," Erdogan explained after the meeting with Putin.
However, the Turkish-Russian rapprochement goes beyond this. Erdogan also hopes to explore the nuclear sector with his Russian counterpart. "We talked to Putin about the construction of two more nuclear plants in addition to Akkuyo. He agreed to work on the issue," he noted. Russia's Rosatom is currently building a nuclear power plant in the southern province of Mersin. Moreover, Ankara wants to cooperate with Moscow on space matters. Erdogan announced that in addition to all these agreements, there was a "further offer" to work together on testing rocket launches in space. In this regard, it is worth noting that Turkey has treaties with the European Space Agency (ESA).
Despite Erdogan's attempts at rapprochement with Putin, there are certain issues on which Turkey and Russia clash. The two countries defend different actors in Syria and Libya. In the first case, Putin is a key ally of Bashar al-Assad, while the Turkish government and army support rebel militias in the north. In Libya, on the other hand, Russia supports Marshal Khalifa Hafar, who is at loggerheads with the Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). In the Caucasus region, too, positions differ. During the last Armenian-Azeri war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey backed Azerbaijan, a historical ally of Ankara. There were even accusations that the Turkish government transferred mercenaries to the area to fight on the Azeri side. In response to these rumours, Russia contacted Turkey and called for "maximum restraint". Subsequently, once the escalation of the war was over, Moscow helped Yerevan to reform its army.
The United States is not the only NATO country that currently has strong disputes with Turkey. In recent years, French President Emmanuel Macron has also distanced himself from Erdogan. One of the main reasons for this disagreement between Ankara and Paris is Libya. France, despite declaring its neutrality, supports Haftar. In this context, a major incident took place that marked a turning point in Turkish-French relations. In the summer of last year, France accused a Turkish warship of harassing one of its vessels off the Libyan coast, although Ankara denied this accusation. On the Libyan issue, Macron described Turkey's policy in Libya as 'criminal'.
Then, in October 2020, the murder of a French teacher for showing a cartoon of Mohammed prompted Macron to reaffirm his efforts to fight Islamic fundamentalism, which sparked anger in many Muslim-majority countries, including Turkey. Ankara accused Macron of "fomenting Islamophobia" and led the boycott of France. Erdogan also claimed that his French counterpart needed "mental treatment". Religion aside, another issue that has worsened the current Turkish-French crisis is the conflict in the Aegean. Paris has positioned itself as Athens' key ally vis-à-vis Ankara. "We need to clarify Turkey's place in NATO", Macron declared last summer during a new escalation of tension in Mediterranean waters. The latest military agreement signed between France and Greece did not sit well with Turkey either, which saw it as a 'military alliance against Ankara' and 'damaging to NATO'.
The tug of war between Ankara and Paris has continued. Recently, Macron warned of possible Turkish interference in the upcoming French elections in 2022. The Elysée has also announced that in recent elections "there was pressure from associations" linked to Turkey, as EFE reports. For this reason, the French authorities will be extremely vigilant in the spring elections.
