This is how those who insult Turkey are exalted!..

In the coming weeks, a new NATO Secretary General will be elected. In fact, it is as if they have already been elected; we are just in the process of making it official.

About a month ago, we wrote that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas were candidates for the secretary general position, but that the US, France, and Germany wanted Rutte.

According to what was said at the time, Turkey had set criteria for the new secretary general, such as “providing convincing commitments regarding the fight against terrorism, the lifting of arms embargoes imposed on our country, and adherence to the fundamental values of NATO.”

Based on these and previous experiences, we emphasized that “it was understood from top to bottom that the road would lead to Rutte,” and we compiled a detailed record of the prospective new secretary general regarding both those set criteria and his view on our country and Gaza, which is the “red line” of the government.

After this poor record, we added the following:

“Since Biden wants Rutte, is there any possibility or chance for Ankara to say 'no'?”

HE TOOK A STAND AGAINST US IN CYPRUS

In the period following our article dated April 8, let us recount the new affections (!) shown toward our country by both Rutte and the boss of NATO, the US, which wants him, as well as some other NATO member countries.

The Special Summit of EU Heads of State and Government was held on April 17-18. Before the summit, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said, “Good relations with Turkey are important for the EU and the Netherlands.” But at the summit, he supported the declaration that conditioned the development of EU-Turkey relations on the Cyprus issue.

While Ankara responded to that EU declaration with a dry statement from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was announced about a week later that Minister Hakan Fidan would not attend the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers to be held in Belgium on April 29-30 in protest, and that instead, the “level would be lowered” and Turkey would be represented by Ambassador Faruk Kaymakçı, the Permanent Representative to the EU!..

FRANCE, WHICH WANTS RUTTE, DID THIS

Let us come to the actions of France, which wants Rutte for the NATO Secretary General position. On April 29, the French National Assembly adopted a resolution claiming that a “genocide” was committed against Assyrians and Chaldeans during the Ottoman period.

Again, a reaction came from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs; it was stated that the resolution in question was “null and void.”

Subsequently, with a motion accepted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), this decision taken by the French Parliament was condemned with “regret and severity.”

But there was no sound from our “world leader”!..

THE US CONTINUED TO “MOCK OUR INTELLIGENCE”

Let us look at the front of the US, the boss of NATO, which wants Rutte.

After Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan assessed his visit to Washington in early March by saying, “There is an opportunity to move forward with a renewed psychology, a more positive agenda, and by turning a new page,” he explained that the “US-YPG/PKK cooperation,” which started temporarily but is moving toward becoming permanent, increases the risk of confrontation with Turkey, and that they had told this to their counterparts. He also emphasized that the support the US gives to the terrorist organization is our “number 1 national security problem.”

How seriously did the US take these warnings of ours?

147 million 941 thousand dollars were allocated from the Department of Defense budget to the YPG/PKK, which appears as the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)... US officers attended a memorial ceremony held for 9 PKK members who died in two helicopters that crashed in Sulaymaniyah last year...

They sent two air defense systems and 200 radiation missiles to the YPG/PKK... In fact, as Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler recently announced, they have started providing “pilot training” to the PKK/YPG.

In short; despite Minister Güler's words, “We say do not mock our intelligence,” they continued to mock our intelligence!..

DID HE GO TO THANK THEM FOR THE KAVALA-DEMIRTAŞ DECISION?

Let us return to the prospective NATO Secretary General Rutte.

On April 18, the Dutch Parliament accepted a bill that conditions the update of the EU-Turkey Customs Union on the release of Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş.

After this decision, which means direct interference in Turkey's internal affairs, one would expect Ankara to show a reaction, even if it were fake, right?

Not at all!.. On the contrary, the next day, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan went to the Netherlands and met with Rutte.

On the same day, a phone call took place between Erdoğan and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who is a candidate for NATO Secretary General. It was announced that the NATO Secretary General position was also brought up during the meeting and that Erdoğan stated, “A secretary general should be elected who will serve the security and interests of NATO countries in the face of global and regional challenges, especially terrorism, strengthen the unity of the Alliance, protect and enrich the spirit of solidarity, and prioritize NATO's primary role in defense and security-related consultations.”

The Turkish translation of this was that they were saying “no” to Iohannis.

One week after Fidan's visit, Rutte came to Turkey “to discuss his candidacy for NATO Secretary General.” Although the Dutch press reported that Rutte would not go to Turkey on an official government plane but on a regular passenger plane, and that he bought his ticket with his own money because he considered this meeting a separate issue from his Prime Ministerial duties, Erdoğan talked at length about both bilateral relations and Turkey-EU relations, and increasing trade volume during his meeting with Rutte.

As for the NATO Secretary General issue;

Stating that the fight against terrorism is one of the top priorities during the meeting, Erdoğan said, “We shared what kind of qualities we want to see in the new NATO Secretary General. Let no one have any doubt that we will make our decision within the framework of strategic reason and fairness. The removal of defense industry obstacles against Turkey is a condition.”

Rutte, after praises such as, “Turkey is a geopolitical actor. Turkey has a lot of influence (in the region),” noted the following regarding his Secretary General candidacy:

“Turkey is a very important ally in NATO. After the US, Turkey represents the second largest military power within NATO. Turkey is a country located in a challenging region, in a geography with difficult neighbors. Unfortunately, terrorism is on its agenda.”

The result?

It is unknown how and what kind of assurances were received for the fight against terrorism and arms embargoes; just three days after that meeting, it was announced that Turkey had informed other members that it would support Rutte's candidacy for the new NATO Secretary General, can you believe it?!

Looking at Rutte's record and the developments we have recounted above, how is it possible to say that this decision was “made within the framework of strategic reason and fairness”!..

Thus, after Rasmussen, another person who is hostile to Turkey and pro-genocide in Gaza has been exalted.

My main curiosity is; what does the CHP say about Rutte's NATO Secretary General candidacy?