Türkiye is a country that is good at playing both sides.
Turkey spans the Eurasian continent and guards the Black Sea sea channel Turkish Strait . It is precisely based on this special strategic position that Turkey has the capital to have both sides.
A balanced diplomacy is being carried out between the United States and Russia.
Turkey and Russia have deep grievances in history. In order to compete for the Black Sea outlet and the land along the Black Sea coast, the two sides fought at least ten large-scale wars. In the end, Russia removed Turkey from Turkey. It has seized a large area of territory around the Black Sea, but control of the Turkish Straits is still in Turkey's hands.
During the World War period, Turkey claimed to remain neutral on the surface to avoid being involved in the war. In fact, it secretly observed which side would win on the battlefield so that it could stand on the winning side, a typical fence-sitter. In the early days of the war, Germany was full of momentum. At this time, Turkey secretly supported Germany to prevent Germany from invading its country. But at the end of World War II, after seeing that Germany was defeated, Turkey declared war on Germany and became a victorious country. It is said that Türkiye’s wall-riding technology is first-rate.
After the end of World War II, Türkiye became an ally of the United States. At that time, the border of Armenia was the border mark of the Soviet Union, which made Turkey's strategic position very important. It became the front line of the West against the Soviet Union. In order to win over Turkey against the Soviet Union, the United States provided assistance to Turkey, and then fought against all odds to draw Turkey into NATO .
During the Cold War, Turkey, as a member of the West, actively participated in the confrontation with the Soviet bloc. For example, Turkey allows the United States to deploy nuclear weapons within its territory, thus shortening the distance of nuclear strikes led by the United States against the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Turkey actively supported the Afghan people in resisting the Soviet invasion.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Turkey's most powerful enemy in northern Turkey disappeared. Turkey also began to ease its relations with Russia. The two sides began to cooperate in Syrian military operations, military weapons and equipment, etc.
For the United States and Russia, Turkey's strategic position is very important. As long as the United States has troops stationed in Turkey, it can control the Turkish Straits and then guard Russia's passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea . For Russia, if it does not want its access to the Black Sea to be cut off and turn the Black Sea Fleet into the "Black Lake Fleet", Russia also needs to please Turkey. Turkey is taking advantage of the needs of the United States and Russia to play both sides to seek maximum benefits.
As far as Turkey is concerned, it neither completely leans towards the United States nor completely towards Russia. Instead, it uses its own interests as the standard for all actions. For example, although the United States is Turkey's NATO ally, it supports its arch-enemy Kurdish forces and even participated in a military coup to subvert its regime. This makes Turkey unable to fully trust the United States. In terms of weapons procurement, Turkey would rather risk being sanctioned by the United States to purchase the more cost-effective Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile . This shows that Turkey takes interests as its criterion and cooperates with whoever gives it benefits.
Why does Türkiye oppose Sweden and Finland joining NATO?
Although Turkey claims to be a European country, its religious beliefs, ethnicity, cultural customs, etc. are obviously different from other European countries. In particular, Turkey is an Islamic country, which prevents European countries from treating Turkey as a similar country.
European countries have always interfered in the internal affairs of other countries under the guise of safeguarding human rights around the world, and Turkey is one of them. As a multi-ethnic country, Turkey also has ethnic groups with strong separatist tendencies, and the Kurds are the separatist force that causes the most headaches for the Turkish authorities.In order to maintain national unity, Turkey not only attacks the Kurdish separatist forces in its own country, but also crosses the border to attack the Kurdish separatist forces in Syria and Iraq. This has aroused dissatisfaction among European countries, accusing Turkey of not respecting human rights. Sweden and Finland also participate.
An attempted military coup occurred in Turkey in 2016. The Turkish authorities identified Fethullah Gulen, a religious figure currently living in the United States, as the mastermind of the attempted military coup. As a result, Turkey began to crack down on those involved in the military coup. And identified " Gulen movement " as a terrorist organization. Many people fled to European countries for refuge and received asylum from European countries. Sweden and Finland are two of the countries that provide asylum.
Due to Turkey's crackdown on Kurdistan Workers Party and people related to the "Gulen Movement", Western countries imposed sanctions on Turkey and imposed an arms embargo on Turkey, which made Turkey greatly dissatisfied.
After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, Sweden and Finland took the opportunity to propose joining NATO. This allowed Turkey to see an opportunity to pursue its own interests, and immediately expressed its opposition to these two countries joining NATO unless the conditions proposed by Turkey were met. Turkey requires Sweden and Finland to stop supporting the "Gulen Movement" and the Kurdistan Workers' Party and other related organizations, which are designated as terrorist organizations by Turkey, and to lift the arms embargo and related sanctions against Turkey.
Türkiye what do you get out of it?
At the last moment before the NATO summit in Madrid, Turkey reached a tripartite agreement with Sweden and Finland. Turkey had previously opposed the two countries' joining NATO, but now it suddenly supports the two countries' joining NATO. It can be said to be a 180-degree turn.
Since Turkey no longer opposes Sweden and Finland joining NATO, it is obvious that Sweden and Finland have met Turkey's requirements. So what did Turkey gain from this deal?
According to the agreement reached by the three parties, Turkey has achieved at least four results:
First, Sweden and Finland will fully support Turkey’s counter-terrorism, recognize the PKK as a banned terrorist organization, and prevent and investigate the party and its organizations in other countries. Domestic fundraising and recruitment activities, and also do not support organizations such as the "Gulen Movement".
Second, the three countries have established a cooperation mechanism. Sweden and Finland will handle requests for deportation or extradition of terrorist suspects based on Turkey's request.
The third is to lift the arms embargo on Turkey.
Fourth, Sweden and Finland have committed to combating false information and preventing domestic laws from being abused for the benefit or propaganda of terrorist organizations.
Judging from the above results achieved, Sweden and Finland have basically met all the requirements put forward by Turkey. Turkey has got what it wants, and naturally it will no longer prevent Sweden and Finland from joining NATO. At the Madrid NATO summit, Sweden and Finland were also formally invited by NATO.
After Turkey reached an agreement with Sweden and Finland, Biden posted congratulations on social media: Congratulations to Finland, Sweden and Turkey for signing the trilateral memorandum - this is a key step for NATO to invite Finland and Sweden, which will strengthen our alliances and enhance our collective security – is also a great way to start the summit. "
In fact, as the leader of NATO, Biden contributed a lot to the trilateral negotiations. Biden also personally called the leaders of the three countries. Biden also played a key role in the reason why the three parties were able to reach an agreement at the last moment. .
If Sweden and Finland successfully join NATO, it will also mean that NATO will expand to the next two cities, and it will still be in the areas surrounding Russia. Russia has always opposed NATO's eastward expansion, because NATO's eastward expansion is mainly aimed at Russia. Russia’s strategic buffer space is being squeezed by its continuous eastward expansion, and it is precisely because of NATO’s continuous eastward expansion that it has triggered conflicts between Russia and neighboring countries.
Turkey first blocked Sweden and Finland from joining NATO this time, which is good news for Russia. Then it supported the two countries to join NATO, which was bad news for Russia. Turkey once again played a trick between the United States and Russia. Turkey's wall-riding skills can be said to be superb.
