Former US national security adviser John Bolton claims that Turkey’s NATO membership should be in question because of its position on Russia.
This is because of the clear unwillingness of the Turkish authorities to take a tough anti-Russian stance on the conflict in Ukraine, he added in his article that was published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday evening, Euro Weekly News reported.
In the coming months, Bolton said he believed that “the unity and determination of the West will be truly tested in practice. Finland and Sweden have made the stunning decision to join NATO, but Russia’s trade and military partners have not yet abandoned it in its hour of need”.
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“Unfortunately, this includes Turkey, whose NATO membership should be in doubt in 2023 if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – probably through fraud – will be re-elected in the elections scheduled for June,” he added.
At the same time, Trump’s ex-assistant claimed that the prolongation of the conflict in Ukraine would contribute to the growth of discontent in the West.
Since the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ankara has always refused to join the Western retaliatory sanctions against Moscow. Turkey, despite having NATO’s second-largest military, has somehow reduced its military aid to Kyiv compared to about $100 billion in Western military aid.
Turkish officials have, instead, remained largely neutral on the Ukraine war, seeking mediation and a diplomatic end to the war, hosting a series of high-level talks last year.