Erdoğan’s lifting NATO veto not a surprise: CHP
ANKARA
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said Türkiye’s decision to lift the veto on Sweden and Finland’s bid to join NATO was not a surprise.
“It was not a surprise. He made big talks like ‘Sweden and Finland cannot join the NATO as long as I rule [the country].’ But foreign policy and domestic politics are two different things. You can make exaggerated sentences in the domestic arena but not in foreign policy,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with the daily Birgün on June 30.
Criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for using the same language and rhetoric he uses inside when he is dealing with foreign policy matters, he said “But when he goes abroad, he is laying down arms. He is putting his signature on whatever they suggest. He said so many things against Saudi Arabia, Greece, Israel but what happened later?”
Kılıçdaroğlu also criticized the government for excluding the Foreign Ministry and its experienced diplomats on issues concerning foreign policy. “Under normal conditions, it is the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry that should make statements. But it is Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and [presidential adviser and spokesman] İbrahim Kalın who are talking to the media.”
“There is no policy. Erdoğan is speaking tough inside and surrenders abroad. That means whatever he says in Türkiye has no importance at all. The world has learned this. The U.S., France, Egypt, Israel… they all know this.”
Kılıçdaroğlu’s comment came after Türkiye, Sweden and Finland signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding for the two Nordic states’ bid to join the alliance.
