NY Times says Erdoğan became authoritarian, drifting Turkey away from NATO
The New York Times has claimed that Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has become increasingly authoritarian and that he is drifting NATO‘s only Muslim member away from the alliance.
The paper said in an editorial on Friday that Turkey’s commitment to the alliance has never seemed “more ambivalent than it does now.” Turkey has angered its Western allies, particularly the United States, with its unwilling to join a global coalition to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and has stepped up anti-Western rhetoric, which finds a receptive audience among the current government’s electorate.
The editorial said Erdoğan and his government either are not cooperating fully or are acting in outright defiance of NATO’s priorities and interests.
“Add the fact that Turkey under Mr. Erdoğan has become increasingly authoritarian, and it becomes apparent that the country is drifting away from an alliance whose treaty says it is ‘founded on the principles of democracy’ as much as defense,” the newspaper said.
The Washington-based Freedom House said in its latest report that Turkey is doing poorly in political rights and civil liberties, ranked Turkey among “Partly Free” countries while rights group frequently dole out rebuke on Turkey’s poor human rights record. Citing attempts by “local and global forces” to overthrow him, Erdoğan has made little secret of his determination to keep a firm grip on politics.
The editorial said Ankara has been unwilling, or unable, to stem the flow of fighters or smuggled goods through its Syrian border despite continued pressure by the Western allies. It is inexcusable, the NY Times added, that Turkey is not doing a better job, given the country’s large military and well-regarded intelligence service. It complained that Turkey should have been making military bases and troops available to the American-led coalition to counter ISIL, recalling James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, telling Congress recently that he was not optimistic that Turkey would do more against ISIL because it had “other priorities and other interests.”
Although Turkey and the US signed a deal to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels as part of a program that aims to prepare at least 5,000 rebels a year to fight against the ISIL in Syria, Ankara considers the program a way to confront the Syrian army, which has ramped up its operations across Syria since the US-led allies launched an air campaign against ISIL targets. Turkey has refused to unconditionally join the anti-ISIL efforts, urging the allies to broaden their strategy that also includes the removal of Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad, Erdoğan’s chief nemesis.
Shaking hands with Russia and China
The NY Times also described the government’s insistence to purchase Chinese missile defense system, which Turks say will enable them to learn how to build one, as a “troubling behavior.” It noted that NATO would not integrate its system with a Chinese system because the two are not compatible, a Chinese system might contain risky software, and members of Congress oppose it. Turkish Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz recently said that the Chinese system won’t be integrated into the NATO anti-missile system, while Erdoğan’s spokesman denied it. A Turkish defense official earlier said they’re still in talks with other bidders.
Raytheon, the US company that is currently in talks with Ankara on the matter, declined to comment.
The editorial cited Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to NATO, as saying that Turkey is weakening the defense of its territory and weakening NATO at the same time, if Ankara refuses to link its defense system with NATO’s.
Reminding Turkey’s plan to sign an agreement this year for a Russian natural gas pipeline, the NY Times said the Erdoğan’s government has been ignoring Western sanctions and exploiting a rift between Russia and the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine to gain energy supplies at bargain prices.
Withdrawing from NATO, the editorial warned, would be a “catastrophic mistake.” “But the fact that the possibility is even raised by officials and defense experts shows how concerned the allies are about relying on Turkey in any crisis,” the paper stressed.
SUNDAYS ZAMAN