Erdoğan urges NATO allies to ’respect’ concerns over Finland, Sweden

ANKARA

Ankara’s expectation from its NATO allies is to display the solidarity shown in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis to Turkey as well, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 18.

“It would be fair to say that it is with some tears in our eyes and with a little smile on our face that we are watching the solidarity and cooperation displayed in the region following the Ukraine crisis, the resources being mobilized, the arms being opened and the tolerance being shown,” Erdoğan said, addressing his party’s parliamentary group meeting.

That is so because Turkey, as a NATO ally that has been fighting against terror for years, with its borders being “harassed” and massive conflicts taking place next to it, have never experienced such a picture, he said.

“Our only expectation from our NATO allies is for them to show the same good faith to Turkey’s efforts aimed at protecting its own borders and reinforcing its security and stability. We expect our allies to first understand our sensitivities and then to respect and finally, if possible, to support,” Erdoğan added.

The president said, “Turkey has sensitivities arising from our responsibilities towards our brothers with whom we enjoy strong historical and humanitarian ties.”

Whatever the conditions, Turkey cannot turn its back on these people, to whom we are linked by the legacy of a common history and civilization, the president said.

“It is clear that our allies don’t share this approach of ours, although they show unlimited tolerance for some countries within NATO and the European Union that engage in every kind of spoiled act and abuse the massive resources allocated to them,” Erdoğan said.

Underlining that Ankara continues to properly fulfill its responsibilities within the Alliance despite the attitudes the NATO allies display towards Turkey, the president said the country is the foremost among the countries lending the biggest support to the Alliance’s activities in practice.

“Yet, this doesn’t mean that we will say ‘yes’ to every proposal brought before us. NATO’s enlargement is meaningful to us only to the extent that our sensitivities are respected. Asking us for support for NATO membership while providing every kind of support to the PKK/YPG terrorist organization amounts to incoherence, to say the least,” he said.

He stressed Turkey has sensitivities with regard to the administrations that have turned into a source of instability right beside its own borders, Erdoğan said.

Turkey pays the price for these troubles by hosting refugees numbering millions. And we could not see any ally understanding our problem on this issue until after refugees headed for western countries, he added.

“What is more, we know so-called allies who covertly provoked this process just in order to put Turkey in trouble, and these are, take no offense, our allies in NATO; we know them very well,” he stated.

Erdoğan reminded that the world today is faced with greater and bigger threats caused by the Ukraine-Russia war following the pandemic crisis and said the global system of economy and government is being shaken to its foundations.

Economic troubles, which are best epitomized by the inflation triggered by exorbitant hikes in energy and raw material prices, distress all, developed countries in particular, he stated.

“The fact that humanity has come to the brink of a great confrontation yet again after World War II, as made visible by the war on Ukrainian territory, has brought security balances to the forefront,” the president said.

NATO is in pursuit of enlarging its eastern borders, accordingly, various steps are being taken with a view to enlargement, he stated.