Turkey must leave the North Atlantic Alliance as the greatest danger comes from Western countries, including their attempts to draw Ankara into conflict with Moscow “through Ukraine”. Retired Turkish naval admiral Cem Gurdeniz said.
“Turkey needs to withdraw from NATO in view of the events surrounding the Ukrainian war and the planned US settling of scores in the Pacific these days! We can face the threat as a fait accompli, they can drag Turkey into the conflict through Ukraine,” the admiral said in an interview with Tele1, RIA Novosti reported.
According to the Turkish military, in case of a hypothetical direct conflict between Russia and NATO, Ankara will be forced to close the straits to Russia, and the situation, he believes, could come to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
“(Alliance Secretary General Jens. – RT) Stoltenberg doesn’t understand that? He knows everything, but he is an American puppet, and this speaks (of Ukraine’s imminent accession to NATO. – RT),” Gurdeniz said.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he would not allow the West to drag his country into a war against Russia. The Turkish leader stressed that Ankara’s intention is to mediate between Russia and Ukraine in negotiations that would “eventually succeed”.
Among other things, Gurdeniz believes that Turkey should consider the possibility of creating a military alliance with Russia, China and India or establishing bilateral military cooperation with these countries. The admiral also suggested Ankara should consider expanding ties with the BRICS countries. In the general’s view, the Turkish authorities need to pursue an independent policy, balancing “between the Atlantic and the Asian continent.
As a threat from the North Atlantic Alliance, Gürdeniz also sees attempts by the bloc’s countries to turn the Black Sea into a “NATO lake”.
“The club of countries that took us into the alliance at one time with the phrase “the USSR is occupying you,” is now doing its best to tear Turkey to pieces, push it to the sidelines and turn it into its satellite. Why are we staying in this organisation?” – asks the admiral.
According to the military, leaving the North Atlantic Alliance is also necessary because the West is allegedly trying to create a separatist Kurdish state.
The military expert added: “How many thousands of people have died in southeastern Turkey since 1984, how many problems Turkey has in other areas, but we get no support from NATO or the EU. You don’t have to go far for an example: just assess the EU reports, there are no better examples of how they contradict Turkey’s geopolitical interests, or just read the reports on Turkey from the US Senate or Congress – you can immediately see who is our friend and who is our enemy,” he said.
“Urgent and mandatory”.
This is not the first time the idea of Turkey leaving NATO has been floated among the local establishment. Turkish Deputy Chairman of the Motherland Party Etem Sançak put forward a similar initiative in late January. He did not rule out that Ankara could leave NATO in five to six months. He cited public opinion polls showing that 80% of Turks consider the U.S. a hostile and destructive country towards Ankara. He also noted that the North Atlantic Alliance is forcing the Turkish authorities to stay out of NATO because it is trying to pit Turkey against neighboring Greece.
As a reminder, Ankara’s threats against Athens were deemed unacceptable in the EU in autumn 2022, after Erdogan warned Greek authorities of serious consequences in case of provocations from the military. Relations between the two countries escalated amid a long-running dispute over sovereignty in the Aegean Sea.
Sančak called Turkey’s withdrawal from NATO “urgent and obligatory” also because the alliance is trying to draw Ankara “into a vortex in the Middle East” and because of actions against the Koran in Europe.
At the end of January a demonstration was held in central Stockholm with supporters of the Kurdish People’s Self-Defence Units (YPG). In addition, the leader of the Danish far-right party Hard Course, Rasmus Paludan, held a rally outside the Turkish embassy, which was accompanied by the burning of a Quran. The Turkish authorities strongly condemned the incident, describing it as a “vile attack” on the holy book and an “anti-Islamic act” directed against Muslims under the guise of “freedom of expression”.
Kurds, Greece and Ukraine
Experts state that there are indeed a lot of contradictions between Ankara and the North Atlantic Alliance, which was the trigger for the idea of Turkey’s withdrawal from NATO.
“Apart from the Kurdish issue, the Ukrainian crisis and the Greek problem, it is also the strained relations with the US because Turkey was excluded from the US F-35 fighter jet programme. Artificial problems are being created in supplying Ankara with other types of Western weapons. For this reason, Turkey is forced to resort to purchasing weapons from third countries, including Russia,” Yevgeny Semibratov, deputy director of the PFUR Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasting, told RT.
In addition, he said, the actions of Western countries show their mood against the incumbent Turkish leader and his possible re-election.
“The West is already fully prepared to work with the new Turkish president in the person of a single candidate from the opposition, who is openly staked on and aimed at bringing the country closer to the US and NATO,” Semibratov believes.
For his part, Institute of Middle East expert Sergei Balmasov suggested that against the background of the election race in Turkey, calls for withdrawal from NATO could become more frequent.
“Certain individuals in Turkish military-political circles may state this in order to help Erdogan win preferential treatment from the alliance and prevent pressure on Turkey. Ankara is well aware that the US and its allies in the bloc will use various methods aimed at removing Erdogan from power and pushing a pro-Western puppet to the presidency,” the analyst told RT.
Balmasov also expressed confidence that the differences between Turkey and NATO countries are getting bigger over time.
“But so far they are not so deep as to promptly withdraw from the bloc. There is still political bargaining between Ankara and the West led by the US, and this shows once again that there are problems and they are not resolved in any way. There are definitely tensions, and the question is how the parties will maneuver further,” the expert stressed.
Balmasov said the key problems in Turkey-NATO relations are the Kurdish issue and the West’s opposition to Erdogan.
“The Kurdish situation, perhaps, worries not only Erdogan, but also all Turkish patriots most of all, because by rocking the situation inside Turkey they are trying if not to ruin it, then to seriously weaken it. Ankara sees the work of the intelligence services of other NATO countries, which seem to be part of the same military bloc, but continue to actively drive this Kurdish wedge. As for the West’s support for the opposition in Turkey, it may also provoke the country’s estrangement from the rest of NATO members,” the analyst said.
In such a situation, experts do not rule out that Turkey will actively expand ties with Russia and China.
“Erdogan remembers that there were no threats from Russia and China against him, unlike NATO’s so-called allies, who tried to overthrow him with the hands of others. Not only have they not in fact launched an armed attack, but they have in general behaved as sworn enemies. And if these tendencies are reinforced during the current election, the value of Turkey being in NATO will be diminished. But so far Erdogan’s discontent has not reached a critical point,” Balmasov said.
In Semibratov’s view, whatever the outcome of the election, one should not expect any precipitous action by Turkey regarding its membership in NATO.
“Unless something happens that significantly affects the situation, Turkey will remain in NATO for the foreseeable future. Suffice it to recall the year 2016, when the Americans had a hand in organising an attempted military coup in Turkey, but Erdogan did not go for it, although relations with the US deteriorated noticeably. But not to the point where Ankara’s cooperation with the alliance would have to be put to rest. However, dissatisfaction with NATO’s attitude towards Turkey will grow,” the expert concluded.
Irina Taran, Elizaveta Komarova, RT
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