Turkey is at risk of leaving NATO, which is what the Allies fear

Benjamin Richards
3 min readJan 20, 2021

Last April, the outgoing American vice president, Mike Pence, had already warned Turkey that if the country purchased the Russian S-400 missile system, its membership in NATO would be at danger.Turkey must choose: does it want to remain a participant in the world history of the most powerful military alliance? “ Pence asked April 3 at the NATO Engages summit in Washington, DC. “Or do they want to endanger this partnership’s protection by making rash decisions that undermine our alliance? “Then he added.Pence emphasised again, “We have made it clear that we will not stand by while NATO allies buy weapons from our adversaries, weapons that threaten the very cohesion of this alliance,”

The United States, which does not want one of its main allies in the Middle East, a member of NATO since 1951, to unbalance the geopolitical balance in favour of Moscow, is worried about Turkey’s gradual rapprochement with Russia. Officials from the US and NATO have consistently complained that Russian arms cannot be incorporated into the defensive structure of NATO. The S-400s is a state-of-the-art device for missile defence.Russia argues that the device is capable of intercepting bombers, cruise missiles, medium-range missiles, drones and other airborne surveillance devices, even though it has yet to be completely tested in combat. There is a range of about 250 miles on the S-400. It can simultaneously intercept several targets, with and without a crew.

In addition, an anti-access or area denial system is fitted with the S-400s, which effectively establishes a no-fly zone. For this reason, after a Turkish Air Force F-16 shot down a Russian Su-24 operating in the Middle Eastern country on November 24, 2015, Russia deployed the S-400 to its base in Syria.Not just Turkey’s collaboration in Syria and Libya with Russia. But funding for militant groups, challenges to Europe by refugees and the worsening of the human rights situation have also jeopardised Ankara’s permanence. The Partnership Atlantic.

Above all, France, Greece and Germany fear that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no longer trustworthy. Erdogan never removed Syrian mercenaries from Libya, despite his commitments, and continues to transport arms and equipment to Tripoli and Missouri, defying the UN embargo and the IRINI joint European mission.Via exploration and gas extraction operations, Turkey continues to hurt European interests in the Mediterranean. Latest talks with Athens have stated that Ankara does not plan to interrupt its operations, which have triggered earthquakes and storm surges in Turkey and Cyprus that have taken hundreds of lives.

Erdogan then threatened Europe with an invasion by thousands of Syrian migrants and refugees crossing the Greek border into Italy, Spain and Germany, before the Union paid hundreds of thousands of euros to the Turkish government. But it’s not going to be enough. Any time the European states do not fulfil their demands, Erdogan will reopen the door to migrants and refugees.A blackmail that is no longer sustainable, especially now that the coronavirus emergency is being fought by Europeans.

There is, finally, the possibility of terrorism. The Muslim Brotherhood has instigated Muslims in Europe to carry out attacks and cut off the heads of unbelievers, of which Erdogan is the primary exponent and financier.More recently, anti-French rhetoric has been the source of bloody assaults in Paris, Cannes, Vienna and the UK. Those who equate Sultan Erdogan to Mohamed II, with stabbings, beheadings and abuse.

--

--