By Sascha Glaeser
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan continues to drive a hard bargain when it comes to Sweden’s and Finland’s accession into NATO. Though the difficulties began with Turkey insisting the Nordic countries extradite some 130 “terrorists,” the controversy has boiled over in recent days, exacerbated by a protest in Stockholm in which the Quran was burned in front of the Turkish embassy.
One particular sticking point remains Sweden’s refusal to extradite individuals involved in a 2016 coup attempt to remove Erdogan from power and Kurds linked to the separatist Kurdish Workers’ Party — a group Turkey, the United States, and the European Union designate as a terrorist organisation. In an attempt to break the deadlock, the Biden Administration seems willing to make concessions to Turkey in the form of a $20 billion deal to deliver F-16 fighter jets contingent upon Ankara dropping its objections to the two Nordic countries NATO aspirations.
The bigger picture reveals a questionable U.S. strategy. Why is the United States making concessions to an unruly ally in Turkey in order to have the burden of defending two more weak European countries?
This piece was originally published in The Critic on February 2, 2023. Read more HERE.