Republicanism and anti-NATO sentiment

Our capital, Ankara, hosted a NATO summit three weeks ago. Life in Ankara practically came to a standstill for two days due to security measures taken during the summit. The measures implemented to ensure the comfort of NATO leaders and their delegations infuriated the citizens. 

In this context, it is necessary to question NATO once again and to discuss what NATO is and what it is not. 

Let us state from the outset: we cannot view NATO as merely a defense and security pact established after World War II, during the onset of the Cold War. NATO is much more than that. 

First and foremost, NATO is an ideological organization. It is an organization with political-economic preferences. It is an organization that acts as the gendarme of capitalism and liberalism. It is an organization that serves as an apparatus for the aggression and occupation of U.S. imperialism. Because it encourages and incites armament in NATO member countries and elsewhere, it is an organization that greatly satisfies the military-industrial structure—one of the leading sectors of the U.S. economy—and helps fill the coffers of U.S. arms companies. 

There is more. Beyond being an organization against communism and the USSR, NATO primarily serves to keep member countries under U.S. control. It brings them into line and shapes them according to U.S. desires. Thanks to NATO, the U.S. institutionalizes and reinforces its influence not only over the defense and security policies of member countries but in every field, from foreign policy to domestic policy, from bureaucracy to the business world, and from universities to trade unions. 

To claim otherwise is to be ignorant of political economy. It is to be ignorant of history. It is to be ignorant of politics. It is to be ignorant of diplomacy. Even though Turkish politics, Turkish bureaucracy, and Turkish academia have been crippled by such ignorance, and even though there are many among the political science and international relations professors in our country who would fall into a crisis and attempt suicide in a world without NATO and the European Union, the stark reality remains unchanged. NATO is an apparatus for the aggression and occupation of U.S. imperialism. 

Let us reiterate: NATO is important not only for the politics, foreign policy, and security and defense policies of the U.S., but also for its economy. The agreement of NATO member countries to increase their defense spending as a share of GDP from 2 percent to 5 percent, at the request of U.S. President Trump, has greatly pleased U.S. arms companies. 

WHO HAS NATO BEEN EXPANDING AGAINST FOR YEARS?

Every wave of NATO expansion is aimed at encircling not only Russia but also Turkey. 

NATO was founded in 1949 with 12 members: the U.S., Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, and Portugal. It added Turkey and Greece in 1952, West Germany in 1955, and Spain in 1982, thus concluding the Cold War with 16 members. 

The first post-Cold War expansion occurred in 1999. Three members joined: the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. 

The second post-Cold War expansion took place in 2004: 7 members joined: Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Baltic trio—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 

The third post-Cold War expansion occurred in 2009. Albania and Croatia joined the alliance. 

In the fourth post-Cold War expansion, in 2017, Montenegro became a member. 

In the fifth post-Cold War expansion, in 2020, North Macedonia became a member. 

In the sixth post-Cold War expansion, in 2023, Finland became a member. 

In the seventh post-Cold War expansion, in 2024, Sweden became a member. 

In short, NATO, which was founded in 1949 with 12 members, expanded three times with new members during the Cold War, and ended the Cold War with 16 members, has expanded exactly 7 times since the Cold War. These expansions are entirely directed toward the east. In these seven expansion moves, 16 countries were made members. In other words, NATO, which operated with 16 members including the 12 founders for 50 years between 1949 and 1999, has added 16 countries as members in the 27 years from 1999 to the present. 

This table alone shows, both numerically and geographically, the purpose of the expansion and whom NATO serves. 

Therefore, today, Republicans, Kemalists, and Atatürkists must be at the forefront of the struggle against NATO, which is the embodiment of imperialism.