Turkey emphasizes that it has many friends in NATO, not only depending on the US

ANKARA – Turkish Presidential Foreign Policy and Security Council Member Cagri Erhan emphasized that his country has many friends within NATO and does not only depend on the United States (US).

Erhan’s statement was disclosed to Sputnik in an interview.

“There are hundreds of issues that are dealt with by the bureaucracy and institutions of NATO. So, the US is not Turkey’s only NATO ally. We have many mechanisms that are running and functioning within NATO with other members and other allies,” said Erhan.

The official noted that Ankara cooperates with all NATO members in some capacity, including with Washington.

At the same time, there have been major recent issues complicating Turkey’s relations with the US.

“Especially, US activities in Syria are a clear example of this kind of unfriendly act towards Turkey. And its support for Greece in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean also raises some concerns in Ankara,” said Erhan.

With regard to Sweden and Finland, whose accession to NATO is still being delayed by Turkey, the Turkish official said the move was very much in line with NATO protocol where voting is not carried out by a majority and “one member can block the whole process.”

All NATO allies except Turkey and Hungary have acceded to and ratified Finland and Sweden’s accession, which took effect immediately after the start of hostilities in Ukraine.

Turkey accuses Stockholm and Helsinki of supporting “terrorists”, referring to supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization.

After the controversial Koran burning incident in Sweden earlier this year, Turkey asked its NATO allies if Finland’s application could be approved separately.

(she)