Turkey can be told that it is no longer welcome as a NATO member as the West’s patience with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government wears thin, Bloomberg’s editorial board said on Sunday ahead of a summit of the military alliance,
Bloomberg reports.
Turkey wants to stay under the West’s military protection and craves for membership in its economic associations while Erdoğan aligns the country with China, Russia and Iran, the powers openly hostile to the interests of the West, Bloomberg said.
“The West should respond by demonstrating that its tolerance for Turkish truculence is at an end. The best forum to do so is NATO,” the editorial board said.
Turkey’s closer ties to Russia have contributed to a deterioration in its relations with the West over the past five years. Turkey acquired a Russian S-400 air defence system in 2019, ignoring warnings by NATO and the United States that the missiles were a threat to the security of the alliance’s technology.
Turkey has also attacked Kurdish militants in Iraq allied with NATO members in the battle against Islamic State (ISIS), engaged in disputes over territory with Greece and Cyprus and clashed diplomatically with France over Libya. NATO has also expressed its concerns over Turkey’s deteriorating human rights record. Membership requires adherence to democratic principles.
Member countries cannot be expelled from NATO, according to its founding charter, but there are ways to tell Turkey that it is no longer wanted, Bloomberg’s editorial board said.
“A good start would be to reduce the alliance’s footprint on Turkish soil, starting with the withdrawal of nuclear weapons and other strategic assets,” it said.
The alliance can also implement punitive measures against Turkey, such as suspending arms sales and economic sanctions, it said.
The European Union should also confirm that it has no intention to revive talks on Turkey’s accession to the bloc, Bloomberg said.
