President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday said attempts to cooperate with Israel within NATO are “not acceptable.”
“It is not possible for the Israeli administration, which has trampled on the fundamental values of our alliance, to continue its partnership relationship with NATO,” Erdoğan told a news conference in Washington after the NATO leaders summit.
The defense alliance has 32 members but also maintains relations with many non-member countries and international organizations, called “NATO partners.”
NATO leaders gathered for a three-day summit to mark the military alliance’s 75th anniversary.
During his talks on the sidelines of the summit, Erdoğan drew attention to the ongoing Israeli “atrocities” in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration, “with its expansionist and reckless policies,” endangers the security of not only its own citizens but also the entire region, he stressed.
“Until a comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Türkiye,” Erdoğan said.
“It is important that responsible members of the international community join hands for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine based on the 1967 borders.
“Likewise, despite all the pressure and intimidation attempts, we are very pleased that the number of countries recognizing Palestine is increasing,” Erdoğan said, demanding other countries also file a complaint against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Besides killing more than 38,000 Palestinians since then, the Israeli military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.
Israel is also accused of committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave, and a case is continuing at the ICJ in The Hague, in which Türkiye is also a party against Israel.
Erdoğan is a staunch advocate of the Palestinian cause that seeks reinstatement of lands occupied by Israel and during the latest round of conflict, he raised the voice of resistance movement Hamas.
His government, which has cut off trade with Israel and urges Western and Muslim nations to pressure Israel, is engaged in global diplomatic efforts to maintain an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and, later, a lasting, two-state solution.
‘Crooked relationship’ with terrorists
Turning to the fight against terrorism, Erdoğan said there is a need to strengthen cooperation between NATO allies in the fight against terrorism.
“It is not possible for us to accept the crooked relationship that some of our allies have established especially with the YPG, the extension of the PKK terrorist organization in Syria,” he added.
Ankara expects solidarity from the allies in the fight against terrorism, one of the two major threats identified by NATO, Erdoğan said, adding: “The law of alliance also requires this.”
Türkiye has long complained of the U.S. working with the PKK and its offshoots, primarily the YPG, under the pretext of fighting the Daesh terrorist group. Turkish officials say using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.
The PKK/YPG has taken advantage of a power vacuum created by the Syrian civil war since 2011 and invaded several resource-rich provinces with the help of the U.S. in 2015. The group has forced many locals to migrate, bringing in their militants to change the regional demographic, seizing 70% of regional oil wells – Syria’s largest worth $2.5 billion – to smuggle oil and generate revenue for its activities.
Washington frequently ships out reinforcements to its military bases and points in the oil fields controlled by PKK/YPG terrorists.
Ankara launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations in 2016 across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union – is responsible for over 40,000 civilian and security personnel deaths in Türkiye during an almost four-decadelong campaign of terror.
Caucasus peace
On efforts between South Caucasus rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia to sign a long-awaited peace treaty by the end of this year, Erdoğan said it was up to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“Türkiye hopes for a peace treaty to be signed and peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I saw in my meeting with the Armenian prime minister that positive steps were taken, as well,” he said, adding, “That part of the world longs for peace.”
Baku and Yerevan have been negotiating a permanent peace agreement to conclude their decades-old conflict over the Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan retook from Armenian separatists in a September offensive. Aliyev has said he will not sign a treaty unless Yerevan changes its constitution over “territorial claims” against Azerbaijan.
