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Op-Ed by Nathalie Loiseau
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with
France's President Emmanuel Macron during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines
of the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. Photo by Eliot
Blondet/ABACAPRESS.COM
Turkey belongs to NATO, is a member of the Council of Europe, and has been
a candidate for accession to the European Union for quite a long time. As a
result of these ties, Turkey benefits from significant funding from Europe,
enjoys a customs union with the EU, and participates in attractive European partnerships
on education and research. Europe also supports Turkey financially for
welcoming millions of Syrian refugees on its soil. All this looks like a
cloudless sky, doesn’t it? Well, not exactly.
Since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became president of Turkey in 2014 and even more
so since he faced a failed coup in 2016, storm clouds have accumulated rapidly,
and we are now experiencing very disturbed weather conditions.
The most recent incident is probably the most striking one: In June, while
participating in the NATO maritime operation Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean
and investigating a Turkish vessel suspected of breaking the arms embargo on
Libya, a French frigate was faced with blatantly hostile behavior
from Turkish warships. Such a serious incident between members of the same
alliance rarely happens and is normally attributed to unintentional
misunderstandings. Not this one. Turkey didn’t apologize and barely hides that
it has no intention to respect the arms embargo
on Libya decided by the United Nations Security Council, which NATO is
committed to enforce.
This military incident, if serious and unprecedented, shouldn’t come as a
surprise. Turkey is waging a proxy war in Libya by sending over Syrian militants, some of
them affiliated with jihadist groups, and violating not only the arms embargo
but also the commitments it made at the Berlin
conference on Libya earlier this year to cease interference in the conflict.
Turkey’s actions only make a political settlement in Libya more difficult and
aggravate the risk of a partition of the country, which would have terrible
consequences for Libya’s neighbors in Tunisia, Egypt, the Sahel, and Europe.
Ankara doesn’t seem to care.
The Turkish government’s rationale of supporting the UN-recognized Libyan
government in Tripoli hardly covers Ankara’s more tangible economic and
strategic aspirations in the conflict, which go directly against European
security interests and sovereignty. Ankara rushed to support the Tripoli
government, and in exchange Tripoli rushed to grant Turkey a maritime agreement that contravenes the
legitimate rights of Greece, another NATO member, and Cyprus. Turkey has also proceeded with illegal gas drilling
in the territorial waters of Cyprus despite warnings and sanctions from the EU.
The relationship between Turkey and Greece has been complex for a long
time, but tensions have recently spiked. In addition to contravening Greek sea
rights, thus disrespecting maritime law, Ankara keeps on pressuring Athens:
Groups of migrants trying to cross the border illegally into Greece are supported by Turkey, which does
generously welcome millions of refugees but also uses them as a bargaining chip
with the EU. In posing such challenges to internationally agreed borders,
Erdoğan acts as if he thinks of his relations with the West in terms of revenge
for the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which recorded the end of the Ottoman Empire.
But wait: Isn’t Turkey bravely countering the influence of Russia in Libya,
as it is also doing in Syria, therefore serving NATO’s interests? The
comparison to Syria is indeed helpful. What is taking place there, and what can
we expect in Libya? In 2019, Turkey decided on a military intervention in
northeastern Syria without asking NATO for consent, but then asked NATO for
support and solidarity, which it didn’t get. Was the purpose of the
intervention to oppose Russia? Not exactly, as the primary reason was to attack
Syrian Kurdish soldiers—the very same ones who have helped the United States,
Britain, and France in our common fight against ISIS.
To be fair, Turkey took the risk of confronting Russia when it intervened
in Syria last year. Except that for quite some time, Ankara had developed a
special channel with Moscow and Tehran to discuss the future of Syria through
the Astana group, while also purchasing military
equipment from Russia. Yes: a NATO member, buying Russian military equipment.
So guess what happened? Turkey and Russia negotiated their respective influence
in Syria. Despite occasional conflicts, they don’t seem to have serious
problems accepting each other’s presence in the country. The direct consequence
of this (not so gentle) strongmen agreement between Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin
is that our fight against jihadist terrorists has become much more difficult,
thus hurting the security interests of the West. Recall that the Paris
terrorist attacks of 2015 were plotted in the very region of Syria that is
contested now. Before the 2019 Turkish intervention, ISIS was deemed defeated.
Not anymore.
Could Libya turn out the same way? Judging by the concerns expressed by
Libya’s neighboring countries, this is precisely what they fear the most: a
partition of Libya between an area controlled by Russia and another controlled
by Turkey—two non-Arab states taking sides in a civil war in an Arab country
for no legitimate reason, without the support of the UN Security Council, the
Arab League, or other international entities. Such an outcome would mean
Turkey, a NATO member, consorting with Russia and sharing the spoils of another
weakened, war-torn country in Europe’s neighborhood.
No wonder Europe is losing patience. You could add to the list of concerns
the authoritarian nature of the Turkish regime and its Islamist agenda, which
go against Ankara’s persistent ambition to become a member of the European
Union. This won’t be realized any time soon.
Europeans, however, are struck by Washington’s continuous silence on
Turkey. Ankara’s provocations against other NATO members such as Greece or
France go unnoticed, as do its violations of a UN arms embargo and the
obstacles it has put up in the fight against terrorism. Even Turkey’s purchase
of a Russian missile-defense system didn’t cross a red line for the Trump
administration: Some days ago, the Pentagon announced that it would continue to buy
Turkish-made F-35 parts through 2022.
No red lines, only green lights: This is the way the Trump administration
has handled its relationship with Erdoğan so far. The approach has only
emboldened an illiberal regime and increased risks for the Middle East, the
Mediterranean, and the transatlantic alliance. With friends like these, benign
neglect isn’t an option.
Nathalie Loiseau is a member of the European Parliament, where she serves
as chairwoman of the security and defense subcommittee. She previously served
as France’s minister of European affairs under President Emmanuel Macron.
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