Turkish Demands v. Further NATO Expansion

by Stephen Lendman

According to Article 10 of NATO's founding document, its so-called "open door policy" to enlarge the war-making alliance requires unanimous consent of its member states.

At this time, Turkish President Erdogan is holding up accession of Finland and Sweden to resolution of what he demands.

While enlarging the alliance from 30 to 32 member states is highly likely ahead, Erdogan said the following:

He won't necessarily agree to every alliance proposal, adding:

"NATO's enlargement is meaningful to us only to the extent that our sensitivities are respected." 

"Asking us for support for (enlarging) NATO membership while providing every kind of support to the PKK/YPG terrorist organization amounts to incoherence, to say the least."

Hegemon USA-dominated NATO "is conspiring against Ankara."

"(H)umanity has come to the brink of a great confrontation yet again after World War II, as made visible by the war on Ukrainian territory, has brought security balances to the forefront."

Turkey won't agree on accession of Finland and Sweden to the alliance unless Erdogan's following demands are agreed on:

Alliance denunciation of the  Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), along with cracking down on their activities in Finland and Sweden.

Extraditing to Turkey what it calls "terrorists" in both countries.

For years, Helsinki and Stockholm refused Ankara's request to extradite 33 individuals, ones it calls "terrorists."

Immediate lifting of EU arms export restrictions to Turkey — because of its military campaign against regional Kurds.

The same goes for Finland and Sweden. Erdogan wants no restrictions on Turkish trade with both countries.

Restoration of Ankara's participation in the US F-35 stealth warplane program. 

Approval of Turkey's request to buy dozens of US F-16 warplanes and upgrade kits.

Barring occurred in response to Turkey's legitimate right to buy S-400 missile-defense systems from Russia.

Lifting of US sanctions imposed on Ankara for buying Russian S-400s.

On Monday, Erdogan said he won't welcome delegations from Helsinki and Stockholm to Ankara for discussion of his demands.

On the same day, US-installed NATO puppet Stoltenberg tweeted:

"Turkey is a valued ally and any security concerns need to be addressed." 

"We must stand together at this historic moment (sic)."

Like Hungary's refusal to go along with an embargo on Russian oil, Turkey acted in similar fashion, Erdogan saying:

"In terms of sanctions, we are studying certain UN guidelines, but let's not forget that we cannot put aside our relations with Russia." 

"I explained this a long time ago." 

"If we take natural gas alone, about half of (what Turkey needs) comes from Russia." 

"Besides that, we are building our Akkuyu nuclear power plant with Russia. We can't ignore that." 

"We have to protect this sensitivity."

"I cannot leave my people to freeze in the winter, and…I cannot completely reboot this industry of ours."

As a result, Erdogan refused to go along with US/Western sanctions on Russia for launching its defensive SMO in Ukraine.

Whether US-dominated NATO will accept his demands as a condition of supporting accession of Finland and Sweden to the alliance is unclear at this time.

A Final Comment

On Wednesday, the European Commission announced a harebrained scheme to end EU dependence on Russian energy by 2027, Russophobe EC head von der Layen, saying:

"We are taking our ambition to yet another level to make sure that we become independent from Russian fossil fuels as quickly as possible (sic)."

The EC estimates that the harebrained scheme will cost about $220 billion for investments in renewable energy sources, new power grids, energy saving efforts, and new oil, gas and hydrogen infrastructure.

At this time, EU countries depend on Russia for about 40% of their natural gas and nearly 30% of their oil.

Cutting way back on or ending this dependency will harm their economies much more than already.

Germany is especially dependent on Russian energy. 

While it may go along with no longer buying its oil, that's not the case on its gas — what's essential for its economy with no known substitute to replace it.