Turkiye’s Veto A Sine Qua Non… New Challenges For Biden Administration By N.Selin ŞENOCAK 

Editor’s Note – N.Selin ŞENOCAK 

ANATOLIA REPORT 

June 2022

We are about to enter the fourth month of the Ukraine War. As Sweden and Finland’s desire to join NATO is becoming concretized, the world is preparing for a new Cold War. It is important to note that the United States has calculated its strategy meticulously, thanks to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia following multiple provocations by the USA, NATO which had lost its raison d’être, is resurrected again.

French President Macron, who attempted to reduce American influence on the European continent by encouraging the creation of a European military force, and described Nato as “brain dead”  also seems to have fallen into the trap. The United States and Europe are in direct competition regarding the sale of weapons, and France is the first country to suffer from the competition of the French Rafale against the American F-35, in addition to the recent submarine crisis with Australia. The announcement of a European Army had been bitterly received by American policy makers who immediately feared the reduction of the US’ influence in Europe. But the conflict in Ukraine showed the unpreparedness of the vast majority of EU countries in the face of large-scale conventional warfare and propelled the United States back to the forefront of the European scene as the guarantor of European security through its leadership in NATO.

Turkiye’s Veto a Sine Qua Non

The enlargement of NATO is at the heart of today’s debates Turkiye has recently announced its veto regarding the accession of Sweden and Finland to the organization. Turkiye’s position is perfectly legitimate as mentioned by President Erdogan “Sweden and Finland two countries that host, finance and support terrorist organizations like the PKK”. In order to maintain the integrity of its territorial security as well as to ease tensions with Russia, a nation that feels itself surrounded by hostile countries, Turkiye should maintain its veto concerning this enlargement. Article 5 of the NATO treaty cannot be assured with these two Scandinavian nations that maintain links to terrorist networks and would threaten Turkiye’s membership in NATO.  Although the PKK is considered to be a terrorist organization by both the United States and Europe, it is quite paradoxically supported and financed by several members of NATO, which is both unacceptable behavior as a NATO member and goes against the principles which the NATO treaty stands for.

A withdrawal from Turkiye, who is not only the second largest military force in NATO but also is of high geopolitical importance, would lead to NATO losing its legitimacy. Additionally, the formation of a China-Russia-Turkiye Eurasian military block would lead to a new form of “Cold War” on a grander scale. Therefore, Turkiye’s decision should be respected by the other NATO’s members in order to ensure its adhesion to the organisation.

It is important to note that Sweden is not only supports, welcomes, and finances foreign terrorist organisations but is also a country that possesses a dark past concerning far-right extremism. Indeed, neo-Nazi groups that dangerously promote Islamophobia and religious discrimination are very influential to this day. Swedish authorities have even recently authorised under police protection the far-right leader Paludan, to burn the Koran in front of the mosques of Stockholm and Uppsala. Such a heinous act cannot be justified and must be condemned by the international community. In the past it was the Jewish community that suffered similarly heinous discrimination which led to the greatest tragedy in human history and today Muslims are the new targets. It is totally hypocritical for a nation that distributes Nobel Peace Prizes to simultaneously finance and support violence and terrorism.

The United States and the European Union believe that the Turkish government will reverse its veto decision through negotiations that are being conducted behind the scenes of diplomacy. However, Russia is a strategically important nation for Turkiye, which is suffering from a major economic crisis that has considerably weakened the government of Erdogan, meaning that the economic and security interdependence between the two countries will weigh even more. Recently, President Erdogan has announced a new military operation in northern Syria which will seek to complete the 30-kilometre deep ‘safe zone’ aimed at combating terrorist organization such as the PKK/YPG operating in northern Syria. This decision has been supported by Russia which clearly demonstrates the strong and underlying strategic links between the two countries.

New Challenges for Biden Administration

The United States seems to be achieving a pyrrhic victory in this war but the food and energy crisis, the rapid rise of prices, the inflation, and the limited access to vital resources which the whole world is currently enduring due to this war will reverse this trend, if peace will not be implemented as soon as possible. The desire of the United States to overthrow Putin might turn out to become rather costly. Many countries, such as India and Turkiye have launched a new system in order to allow them to make direct rupee-ruble/ lira-ruble payments for trade with Russia. This would help undercut the power of the dollar and possibly swing the trade balance in a direction that was not initially calculated by the United States.

The Biden administration, which suffers from its incompetence in internal politics, national security, economic management, and the disappointment of the population in the face of his crises of dementia might lead to Biden losing the “midterms” on November 8th, 2022, and the Trump camp strengthening again. By wanting to stigmatize and overthrow Putin, it is Biden who now finds himself at risk by potentially losing both the support of the Senate and the house of representatives, effectively putting an unofficial end to his presidency.

Finally, it is also pathetic to see Zelensky, a comedian who came to power through unorthodox methods and the support of Soros, who led his country into war and brought chaos and misery to his population as well as the whole world, receiving peace prizes from renowned think-tanks and international organizations. I recommend to all these so-called benefactor organizations, to ask Zelensky to do his indecent show in which he plays the piano that made him famous, at least they will be able to amortize their expensive ceremonies and entertain their guests who lack human and intellectual critical thinking.

Towards a YALTA 2.0

According to United Nations data, 25,000 people a day equating to 9 million people a year, die of hunger in the world. The war between Russia and Ukraine, two agricultural powerhouses who represent the world’s main sources of grain, fertilizers, and energy, will plunge the world into an unprecedented food crisis which is already being felt in Europe and Africa.  Russia should be open to a ceasefire agreement, as Henri Kissinger suggests, and Europe should incite Ukraine to accept the negotiation and the terms of the ceasefire agreement. A second coming of the Yalta Conference seems to be inevitable in order to restore regional peace and stability, with the ultimate goal of avoiding a global security crisis.