When 69-year-old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan objected May 16 to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, the U.S. dismissed Turkey’s objections as irrelevant. But NATO’s charter calls for unanimous consent from all NATO countries before a new membership can take place. Just ask Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Voldymyr Zelensky who practically begged NATO Secretary-General Stotlenberg for three years since taking office May 20, 2019. Zelensky can’t for the life of him understand how Finland and Sweden can get fast-tracked into NATO membership, getting President Joe Biden’s blessing, but Ukraine couldn’t get in. Finland and Sweden, while neutral since the end of the Cold War, have a long history of cooperating with NATO, whether they were members or not. Stoltenberg gave Zelensky the cold shoulder primarily because Ukraine was at war with the Russian Federation.
Zelensky asked for U.S. and NATO troops, especially a no-fly-zone, to stop Russia’s air superiority from battering Ukraine’s towns and cities. But Stotenberg wouldn’t budge on Zelensky’s requests, knowing that NATO could get into WW III, battling the Russian Federation for Ukraine. Ukraine finds itself battered into ruins and insolvency fighting the Russian Federation. Yet Zelensky thinks nothing of telling the gullible press that Ukraine “has broken the back of the Russian army.” Turkey is serious about its objections to Finland and Sweden, largely because their support for the Kurdish [PYD] that helped liberate Syria and Iraq from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria {ISIS]. Erdogan, who house some 15 million Kurds in Turkey, labels all Kurds terrorists because of their history with the PKK or Kurdistan Workers Party. PKK has battled Turkey for years for independence.
Whatever the situation, the U.S. is going to half to cut a deal with Erdogan to get him onboard accepting Finland and Sweden in NATO. Turkey blames the PKK for untold numbers of terrorist attacks inside Turkey to gain independence for Kurdistan. “The question of Turkey’s approach to the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden, this is not a bilateral question between the United States and Turkey,” said State Department Spokesman Ned Price. U.S. officials don’t get that there’s more at stake for Erdogan than U.S. lectures about Finland and Sweden not being part of bilateral talks. “This is not a U.S. issue,” said 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Erdogan looks for concessions from Sweden, Finland and the U.S. on arms sales and sanctions. Turkey was sanctioned by the U.S. for buying Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, something Erdogan wants ended.
Turkey has a had a hot-and-cold relationship with NATO, on the one hand, maintaining close ties to the Kremlin, at the same time, trying to buy F-16s and other offensive weapons from the Pentagon. Erdogan wants the U.S. to end all sanctions against Ankara and, at the same time, get Finland and Sweden to stop harboring PYD Kurdish terrorists, or, for that matter, letting nonprofit groups raise money for Kurdish charitable organizations. Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken claim that all issues related to Finland and Sweden’s membership are separate from Turkey. But because NATO membership must be unanimous, Erdogan can play spoiler unless Sullivan and Blinken take him seriously. Whether Turkey was a NATO member or not, there’s no ban on buying Russian air defense systems, something the U.S. sanctioned Turkey for without justification.
White House officials will have to deal with Ankara or face continued opposition to Finland and Sweden’s membership. Forget about Zelensky who can’t figure out for the life of him why NATO wouldn’t touch Ukraine with a 10-foot pole. Now that Zelensky’s flush with U.S. cash, he can make outrageous statements with impunity, because he’s on the U.S. payroll. Saying Ukraine “broke the back of the Russian military” is precisely why Zelensky can’t be trusted for anything. He’s a Class A propagandist first and foremost. He doesn’t have to explain the fall of Mariupol or the loss of almost the entire Black Sea coast. He can go on with his bravado as long as the U.S. pays for it. At some point, even the most anti-Putin zealots will have to admit that things have gone badly in Ukraine. Talking about Russia pivoting from Kiev is no victory, only a change for strategy and tactics.
Turkey can be paid off easily by the White House to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Putin doesn’t like the move but knows that both countries have counted on NATO for years, even though they’ve maintained some phony neutrality. Joining NATO changes nothing for Finland and Sweden, because they know if they train ICBMs on Russia from their territory they’re inviting problems. “For their part, Finland are working directly with Turkey, but we’re also talking to Turkey about this issue,” Price said, hoping to re solve Turkey’s opposition soon. “We remain confident that Turkey’s concerns will be addressed, and that we’ll be able to reach consensus as an alliance process for Finland and Sweden,” Price said. Giving Turkey the concessions it wants won’t be difficult for the U.S. because there was no need from the beginning to sanction Turkey for Buy S-400 from the Kremlin.
