Turkey joined NATO in 1952 and has the second largest army in the Defense Alliance. Over the years, there have been several occasions where Turkey has ended up on a collision course with other countries in the alliance. When Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, it triggered one of the worst crises in NATO history and Greece left the alliance for a period. Several times later, NATO members Turkey and Greece have been close to open military conflict.
Turkey’s invasion of Syria
In 2019, Turkish troops entered the Kurdish-dominated parts of Syria, which led to new tensions within the alliance. The fact that Turkey also bought Russian air defense systems led NATO member USA to impose sanctions on Turkey in 2020. Now Turkish President Erdoğan is threatening to block Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO applications because he claims that Sweden in particular supports terrorist groups.
Hear how the historic crises can explain Turkey’s role in NATO today and why the country is sometimes described as the defense alliance’s “black sheep” or “problem children”.
Participants: Johan Mathias SommarströmTurkey correspondent, Michael Sahlinformer Turkey Ambassador and Victor NummelinBrussels correspondent at the news agency TT
Host: Olle Wiberg
Introduction: Johar Bendjelloul
Producer: Katja Magnusson
Technician: Tobias Carlsson
Source: ICELAND NEWS