Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Almost A
A Year Ago Has Acted As A Catalyst For
Formerly Neutral Countries Sweden And
Finland To Seek NATO, Membership 28 Of
The Military Alliances, 30 Members Have
Ratified The Two-country Succession
Leaving Only Turkey And Hungary As
Holdouts Officials Seem Confident That
Hungary Will Eventually Agree To Leave
Turkey's President Is The Chief
Obstacle, But Not Everyone In Turkey Is
Opposed To This Latest Expansion And One
Man In Istanbul Has A Particularly
The Inclusive Approach Has More
This Unassuming Local Restaurant Is An
Institution In Istanbul
NATO Serves Traditional Turkish Dishes
And It's Been Doing, So Since
1952. The Year Turkey Joined NATO,
Military Alliance
Is The Boss Here And He Is Proud That
His Restaurant Was, So Popular With
Locals And Foreigners Alike
Everyone Is Welcome To Join His NATO, He
Says Yes
My Customers Come From All Around The
World
From Japan China Finland Sweden From
Germany The US,
Not Everyone Can Join The NATO, Alliance
But In My NATO, No One Gets Turned Away
Turkey Is Famous For Its Hospitality At
At The Highest Political Level, However, The
The World Is Currently Experiencing Quite
The Opposite When It Comes To Enlarging
The NATO, Military Alliance With The Turkish
The Government Has Been Presenting Itself
For Months As A Gatekeeper Who Doesn't
Let Anyone In
Russia's War Against Ukraine Has Raised
Major Security Concerns In Europe
That Is Why Countries Like Sweden And
Finland, Which Has Long Been Opposed To
NATO, Members Now Want To Join
But All NATO, Members Have To Agree To
And This Is Exactly How Turkish
President
Is Putting On The Brakes
He Accuses Sweden And Finland Of Being
Too Lenient With Groups That Ankara
Considers Terrorists
Including The Card, Cash Militant PKK Which
Is Also On The Eu List Of Terrorist
Organizations
Countries Where PKK Members Can Run Riot
In The Streets, Hold Rallies Under Police
Protection And Extort Significant Sums,
Money Should Not Become NATO, Members
This Would Not Benefit NATO, At All
Rather, It Undermines Its Values
Blames Kurdish Militants For
Attacks In Turkey Such As The Bombing In
Istanbul In November
He Says Sweden And Finland Are Harboring
People With Links To Terrorist Groups
And Has Demanded Extradition To Turkey
Finland And Sweden Have Promised To Take
The Turkish Concerns Seriously And Do
More Against Kurdish Extremists In Their
Countries
But Experts Think That Edwin's Continued
Obstruction Also Has Domestic Political
Reasons Before Elections I've Gone Want To
Nurture His Image As A Leader That Is
Top International Negotiations That
Advances Turkey's Cause And Gets The
Support Of The Domestic Constituency
There Will Be No Green Right To NATO,
Enlargement Until Elections
The Next Presidential Election In Turkey
It Is Said To Be Held By June 2023, So There
It Still A Lot Of Time For Many
Unforeseen Things Happen
But Restaurant Owner
Knows One Thing For Sure In His NATO, The
The Door Will Always Remain Open To Everyone
My Next Guest Is Tony Atalanta, He's A
Senior Research Fellow At The Finish
Institute Of International Affairs His
Areas Of Expertise Include Turkey's
Relations With The West And His Latest
The Book Is Called Turkey's Foreign Policy
Narratives Implications Of Global Power
Shifts Welcome To The Day Of Mr. Atlanta,
Now Tell Me How Big The Frustration
In Sweden And Finland With Turkey Right Now
Well It's Definitely Increasing Every
Month Or Every Week Now That This Thing
Is Stuck
And Um Yeah We Have Had These Voices Not
Only From The Finnish Politicians, But
From European Politicians As Well, So I
Guess There Is Frustration In Other
NATO, Countries As Well We Heard About
The PKK Issue In The Report Is That
Really The Only Reason Turkey Continues
To Block Sweden And Finland From Joining
NATO,
No, I Don't Think That That's The Only
Reason And I Don't Even Think That Uh
Sweden And Finland Are The Only
Issues Here Are Only Partially
Partially About Sweden And Finland Mr
Argon Is Also Using This Delaying
Tactics In Order To Pressure The US, In
Particular Uh, And Especially In Terms Of
The Yoga, of The Syrian Credits Group That, Is
Related To The PKK, And This Is Uh
Fighting Against Isis In Syria, Has
Been
For Over 10 Years Now, A Problem In The US,
Turkish Relationship, to Turkey, Is
Definitely Using These Delaying Tactics
Uh In Terms Of This Issue As Well And
Then There Is This Question Of
Of Fighters Yet That The US, Has Been
Reluctant To Sell, So All Of These
Things Need To Be Considered Here The
Larger Picture
Is It Relevant At All, That Is
Somehow Trying To Position Himself As A
Mediator In The Ukraine War Does He
Maybe Also Did Not Want To Upset Putin By
Allowing For An Expansion Of NATO,
Well, We Can Of Course Contemplate On
That Issue As Well I Don't Think There
Has Been Any Deals Between Mr. Putin And
Mr. Arson, But The Point Is That Turkey
Sees The Whole Uh Global Political Uh
View Very Differently From Others From
Other NATO, Countries Want To Keep
Its, Uh, Balanced Bullet Policy Regarding
Russia Irrespective Of The War, So There
Is A Major Difference Here Regarding The
Adonis, Members, So You're Saying
This Is Mostly a Power Play Is He Actually
Planning On Ratifying These Two
Countries At Some Point Or Is He Just
Gonna Drag It Out Until
They Possibly Eventually Give Up Or This
All Become A Farce
Well Like I Would Tend To Agree With
The Previous Uh Commentator That We Need
To See The Elections Now And What
Will Happen Afterward Because Of the Course
This Is Also A Domestic Tool Uh Showing
A Tough Face Regarding The PKK, Issue And
Showing A Tough Face Against The US, And
The West, In General, Is Of Course
Things That
Can Enhance His Popularity Among The
Nationalist And Conservative Orders
I Still Think To Thank Tend To Think
That The Ratification Will Come At Some
The point, But This May Still Take Time
Uh, On Twitter I Read That You Say That
Turkey's Demands Breach Swedish
Sovereignty How, So
Well Uh This Was Uh, In Reference To The
The Fact That When The Swedish New Foreign
The Minister visited Ankara, He Was Told That
Sweden The Government Should Overrun A
The Court Decision Made By The Supreme Court
The Swedish Supreme Court Rejected
The Extradition Of One Particular Person Uh
From The Sudan Movement And Of Course
This Is A Bridge Of Sovereignty In The
The Sense That We Have This Uh Separation
Of Powers Principle Here In Finland And
Sweden Our Governments Even If They
Would Like To, They Cannot Overrun The
Supreme Court Decisions And Of Course
Turkish Authorities Know This Very Well
Uh, This Is Just Their Way Of Playing
In This Game, Tony Atalanta, Of The Finnish
Institute Of Atalanta, Affairs
Interesting Stuff, Thank You So Much For
Your Time
You're Welcome
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