NATO deceived us too

Three NATO summits have been held in the last three years: Madrid on June 28-30, 2022, Vilnius on July 11-12, 2023, and the Washington summit on July 9-11.

The part of the first two summits that directly concerned our country was our approval of Sweden and Finland's NATO membership in exchange for certain conditions.

What were these conditions? The recognition of the PKK/YPG/PYD and FETÖ as terrorist organizations, the extradition of terrorists in those countries to Turkey, and the lifting of arms embargoes imposed on our country; the final, unspoken condition was the US providing F-16s.

According to Erdoğan, NATO had also accepted the first three conditions, and these terrorist organizations had been included in NATO documents.

Just as today marks the 8th anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt following last week's Washington summit, July 15 anniversary events were also held after last year's Vilnius Summit, and Erdoğan had said the following:

“Finally, at the NATO summit, we once again expressed our uncompromising stance against FETÖ and other terrorist organizations. You watched the NATO Leaders' Summit, didn't you? You saw the atmosphere there, didn't you?”

To see how far Ankara has come in this three-year test with NATO, let us continue to examine the Washington summit, which Erdoğan called a “successful completion” and which most pro-government writers presented as a “victory.”

DIDN'T ANKARA KNOW RUTTE WOULDN'T BE COMING?

Let us start with this to show the state of our diplomacy:

As Erdoğan was departing for Washington, he boasted about Turkey playing a “high-level role” in the selection of Dutch Prime Minister Rutte—whom he once accused with terms like “Fascist” and “Nazi remnant”—as the new NATO Secretary General, saying, “Of course, we will also have meetings with Rutte in America.”

But Erdoğan could not meet with Rutte in Washington; because he hadn't come!.. Was it just something he said, or was he misinformed?!

Erdoğan still could not help but mention Rutte's name in Washington; he stated that he “trusted that Rutte would look after the interests and sensitivities of the allies during his tenure” and wished him success. Meanwhile, when reminded of his statement that “the second-in-command of NATO would be a Turk,” both at the press conference in the US and on the way back to Turkey, he said that they had made the proposal, but that Rutte would make the final decision.

It seems that we set such a condition for approval of Rutte's NATO Secretary Generalship; but we didn't receive any guarantees!..

CONTINUING TO BE A PLACE OF COMPLAINT

Let us come to the condition of terrorist organizations and the extradition of terrorists.

While the NATO Summit declaration was published and the pro-government media presented it as “We got what we wanted,” we had asked, “Is the PKK/YPG/PYD and FETÖ in the updated NATO counter-terrorism strategy document; tell us about that first.”

Because Erdoğan continued to complain about the allies in Washington as well. This meant that we were left empty-handed again!..

Erdoğan's complaints did not stay in Washington; they continued on the way back and at the events he attended after arriving in Turkey.

For example, on the way back, while saying, “We have not yet been able to achieve results in terms of NATO intervening in the situation regarding the fight against terrorism,” he spoke as follows at the National Defense University graduation ceremony over the weekend:

“Just looking at the type and variety of weapons seized is enough to reveal what kind of multinational and multi-partner terror consortium Turkey is fighting against... Some are trying to get Turkey used to living side-by-side with terrorists they have masked by giving them different names.”

Who are this “terror consortium” and “some who are trying to get Turkey used to living side-by-side with terrorists”?!.. Of course, first and foremost, NATO, which Erdoğan calls the “backbone,” and its boss, the US, along with our other so-called allies.

At the award ceremony for the photography contest held in the name of July 15 martyr Mustafa Cambaz, Erdoğan also explained that they had “shown once again that Turkey will not be surrendered to the servants of imperialists and that chains cannot be placed on the will of the Turkish nation.”

Yes, it was shown on July 15 that Turkey would not be surrendered to the servants of imperialists. But what about the imperialists?!

It would have been better if he hadn't said these things right after approving those decisions of the imperialists at the NATO summit in Washington that will set the world and our country on fire!..

Let us underline two more statements made on the occasion of July 15.

According to Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç; the US did not even deign to respond to FETÖ extradition files...

According to the figures given by Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya, approximately 16 percent of FETÖ fugitive members are in the US, and 23 percent are in Germany...

Since it is crystal clear how NATO and our so-called allies keep their promises on this issue, let us move on to the third topic.

CONTINUING ARMS EMBARGO

Supposedly, the arms embargo imposed on our country was going to be lifted; let us look at where things stand from Erdoğan's own mouth.

At the press conference he held in Washington after the NATO summit, upon a question regarding Germany blocking the Eurofighter purchase, he stated that he had discussed the issue with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and said, “We will all follow up on it together. I hope the result will be favorable.”

He not only answered the question of whether there was any progress in cooperation with EU member countries in the field of military industry by saying, “Unfortunately, there is no development,” but also announced that the turbines that Siemens was supposed to send for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant were waiting at German customs.

On the way back, he said, “All allies had made commitments in this direction at NATO's Vilnius Summit... However, despite their promises, some NATO members did not change their negative attitudes,” and then said that the problems regarding not only Eurofighter and Akkuyu turbines with Germany, but also the engines to be purchased for our frigates, were continuing.

DOWNSIZING IN F-16s!..

As is known; while the US was sitting on the F-35s for which we paid, it bestowed F-16s in exchange for Sweden and Finland's NATO membership.

Last month, a contract was signed for the purchase of F-16 Block 70 Viper series aircraft, modernization kits, and specialized ammunition. Then, news appeared in the foreign press that “the scale of the F-16 purchase has shrunk, and some parts will be produced locally.”

When asked about this at the NATO summit and on the way back, Erdoğan said the following:

"I spoke with Mr. Biden again about this issue, especially last night and today. If it is as said, he said, 'I will solve this problem within three or four weeks.' I reminded him again while leaving today. He said he would solve it within three or four weeks, and there were some witticisms between us. The issue regarding the parts is a topic we always discuss."

“If these aircraft and their parts come to us, our technical staff is already sufficient at the moment. All our workshops in this field are very, very successful regarding F-16 modernization. Both we and our relevant ministers and institutions are following this process closely, and we are continuing our efforts to achieve results in a short time.”

We learned the meaning of these incomprehensible expressions and what the problem is, thanks to Sabah's Ankara Representative Okan Müderrisoğlu.

In plain Turkish; the Lockheed Martin company is dragging its feet and trying to inflate the bill... That is why it seems the work will slide from 2028 towards 2030!..

In short; what can be said to those who still tell “victory” tales while our administrators have accepted being deceived by spending our most important trump cards in advance for the sake of Biden's face, and the US and NATO have done what is in their nature?!