Should Turkey's NATO membership be suspended or withdrawn?

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Congress will block F-16 sale if Turkey sinks Sweden’s NATO bid: Van Hollen

The senator said the US should also consider placing sanctions on Ankara, adding that the country is ‘for the most part not a faithful ally.’
January 31, 2023 Written by Connor Echols

Congress will block a major weapons deal and could levy new sanctions on Turkey if the country follows through on threats to block Sweden from joining NATO, according to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
“There’s no scenario where the F-16 sale goes through without ratification by Turkey [of Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids],” Van Hollen said at an Al-Monitor event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
Citing Turkey’s unwillingness to levy sanctions against Russia and its threats to invade northeast Syria, the lawmaker said Ankara is “for the most part not a faithful ally.”
The news comes as the Biden administration is preparing to notify Congress of its intent to conclude a $20 billion deal to supply Turkey with F-16 fighter jets. The controversial sale has become more complicated since last week, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to block Sweden from entering NATO after a protestor in Stockholm burned a Quran.

Congress will block F-16 sale if Turkey sinks Sweden’s NATO bid: Van Hollen - Responsible Statecraft

The senator said the US should also consider placing sanctions on Ankara, adding that the country is 'for the most part not a faithful ally.'

responsiblestatecraft.org

Once any nation is granted NATO membership, is that membership, must that NATO membership be irrevocable?
It seems Turkey needs NATO more than NATO needs Turkey.
And the current NATO expansion effort to add Sweden and Finland to the mutual defense organization continues to receive obstruction from Erdogan / Turkey.

One of the factors promoting political / military cohesion within NATO is the economic, political, social similarity and compatibility of the culture among NATO member nations.
Turkey isn't quite like the other NATO member nations.
Is that reason enough to re-examine the wisdom of including Turkey in NATO? If Turkey can't be trusted in peace, is there rational reason to believe Turkey can be trusted in War?

TOPIC QUESTION:
In context of Sweden & Finland seeking NATO membership, and with Turkey obstructing, should Turkey's NATO membership be reviewed, and considered for revocation?

There are currently 30 NATO members:

• Albania (2009)
• Belgium (1949)
• Bulgaria (2004)
• Canada (1949)
• Croatia (2009)
• Czechia (1999)
• Denmark (1949)
• Estonia (2004)
• France (1949)
• Germany (1955)
• Greece (1952)
• Hungary (1999)
• Iceland (1949)
• Italy (1949)
• Latvia (2004)
• Lithuania (2004)
• Luxembourg (1949)
• Montenegro (2017)
• Netherlands (1949)
• North Macedonia (2020)
• Norway (1949)
• Poland (1999)
• Portugal (1949)
• Romania (2004)
• Slovakia (2004)
• Slovenia (2004)
• Spain (1982)
• Türkiye (1952)
• The United Kingdom (1949)
• The United States (1949)

What is NATO?

An introduction to NATO that provides basic information on what NATO is, member countries, the Alliance's key activities and how it functions. NATO's general evolution is shown in video and links to more in-depth information are provided throughout.

www.nato.int

 

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Who Put Erdogan in Charge of NATO?​

By Bobby Miller
January 31, 2023 5:44 PM

Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be the president of Turkey, but these days, he also seems to have taken on a new role: the de facto king of NATO. How did Erdogan merit this quasi-imperial position? Obstructionism.

Last May, in the aftermath of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden altered their long-standing position of nonalignment and applied for NATO membership. The two Nordic nations have been eagerly waiting to join ever since because ascension to the bloc requires unanimous consent of existing members, and NATO’s two most illiberal leaders, Erdogan and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, did not give their approval. To his credit, Orbán eventually stood down and gave Finland and Sweden his blessing, and previously it looked as if Turkey had agreed to Sweden’s and Finland’s bids too, but formal approval has been held up, and the delay continues to benefit Moscow.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/who-put-erdogan-in-charge-of-nato/

 

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Geographically, culturally, historically, politically and strategically, Sweden and Finland nowadays think of themselves not as a union, but as a pair. The Finns, who share an 800-mile border with Russia, are militarily strong on land, the Swedes at sea and in the air. Together, they could secure — for each other and NATO — the Baltic Sea against a Russian attack, and help defend Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. For all these reasons, the two countries applied to NATO jointly. In turn, most of the allies enthusiastically embraced them as the dynamic duo in the North. ...

Erdogan has been hinting that he might be fine with the Finns joining, but that he’s in no mood to stomach the Swedes. And that poses a new dilemma, both for the two Nordic countries and the alliance. ...

NATO has no mechanism for kicking out an errant member that turns into a saboteur. It’s high time to introduce such a clause. It wouldn’t be aimed at any member in particular. It would simply clarify that the alliance will defend itself, even when the foe is internal.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2023/02/10/commentary/world-commentary/turkey-nato-problems/

I'm OK with waiting until after the Turkish elections. But I also think admitting Turkey into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the first place was a blunder. Can't unring the bell. BUT !!

Bloomberg / Kluth makes an important point: "NATO has no mechanism for kicking out an errant member that turns into a saboteur. It’s high time to introduce such a clause. It wouldn’t be aimed at any member in particular. It would simply clarify that the alliance will defend itself, even when the foe is internal."

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Seems to me what NATO should generally be working toward is teaching Russia (Putin, & his successors) that Russia's future is substantially brighter joining the civilized world, rather than trying to conquer it.

 

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Germany says Finland, Sweden NATO bids must be ratified without delay​

Reuters

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a news conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (not pictured) in Helsinki, Finland February 13, 2023. Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva/via REUTERS
HELSINKI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Turkey and Hungary to pave the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO, stating she expects all NATO members to ratify their bids to join the defence alliance "without further delay".
The accession of the two countries would strengthen the alliance as a whole and the two should join together, Baerbock told a news conference in Helsinki with her Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto.

Finland and Sweden sought membership after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and have said they want to join "hand in hand", but while most member states have given the applications the green light, Turkey and Hungary are yet to ratify them.

Ankara said this month it supported Finland's application but wants Stockholm in particular to take a tougher line against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and the European Union, and another group it blames for a 2016 coup attempt.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...ds-must-be-ratified-without-delay-2023-02-13/

I get the impression the West fiddles while Ukraine burns. How many tens of thousands more Ukrainians must die before the West provides Ukraine the capability to counter-attack Russia? Ukraine has been pleading for modern Western military aircraft, but have left Ukraine to defend itself with Soviet era antiques.

 

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"When it comes to the NATO alliance I wanted to ask you about one key member and where he stands right now. That's the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who I spoke with recently in New York. And when I asked him about his relationship with the West and his relationship with Russia he basically said at this moment in time I trust Russia just as much as I trust the West. This is a key NATO ally. What's your response to that?" Amna Nawaz / PBS NewsHour 23/09/21

Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland responded ... https://www.pbs.org/newshour/

Turkey has as much legitimate justification to defend its sovereignty as any other sovereign nation.

But is Turkey's membership in NATO a net benefit to NATO?
Shall we take Erdoğan at his word? Russia is clearly the aggressor in the invasion and attempted conquest of Ukraine.
NATO appears to support Ukraine, and oppose Russia in this war.

Does it really make plausible sense to call Turkey / Erdoğan an ally?