A 'War' Over Turkey Erupts Within NATO: British Press Coverage of the NATO Summit

Prominent English publications have turned their attention to the NATO summit taking place in London on December 3-4, where the future of the alliance is being fiercely debated. It is known that there are several disagreements within the alliance, one of the most discussed being related to Turkey's actions as a member of the organization.

The British 'Daily Telegraph' has titled its article on the summit as 'What Will Be the End of This Alliance?' The newspaper states that the desire for Europe, particularly France, to create an independent defense system is encouraged by Trump’s isolationist policy, while Trump's statements in this regard raise doubts about NATO's effectiveness for Macron.

“All this gives Russia an opportunity to test NATO,” the paper writes, adding that there are more serious problems facing the alliance, the first of which is Turkey.

“Turkey’s purchase of S-400 missiles and its claims recognizing the YPG (Syrian Kurdish armed groups - 'People's Protection Units') as a terrorist organization have caused disagreements within the alliance. However, removing one of the largest armies in the Middle East from the alliance is not an easy decision,” 'Daily Telegraph' notes.

In the concluding part of the article, it is mentioned that Washington, London, and other partners hope that someone will come to power after Erdoğan who will create fewer problems.

'Daily Telegraph' defense topics editor John Coughlin also writes in his article that NATO is on the brink of a crisis of existence. According to the author, trust among the alliance has decreased towards the US. Coughlin believes that some of the concerns of European partners are related to Trump's actions regarding the Kurds; they think that if the US president behaves like this towards those who fight and die for America, one day he might turn against them as well.

“European leaders are also dissatisfied with the contradictory signals from Trump regarding relations with Russia and Turkey. If it weren't for Erdoğan's good relations with Trump, Turkey would most likely face NATO sanctions for purchasing S-400 systems. Similarly, Trump's striving to build friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin casts a shadow on NATO's thesis about the threat posed by Russia,” Coughlin writes.

'GUARDİAN', which dedicated the first two pages to the NATO summit, reports that the opposition between Trump and Macron regarding Turkey has sparked a war within NATO. According to the paper, everything has added up; on the eve of the NATO summit, Macron accused Turkey of working with groups connected to ISIS. Trump termed Macron's statement about NATO's brain death as 'disgraceful.' Erdoğan announced that he would block the defense plan for the Baltic states until alliance member countries recognize the YPG as a terrorist organization.

Source: Demokrathaber