MESOP : PUTIN, OBAMA & ERDOGAN UNITED ? NATO Backs Turkish Intervention at Emergency Meeting
“We stand in strong solidarity with our ally Turkey…to address instability on Turkey’s doorstep and on NATO’s border,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told an emergency meeting of the alliance today. The meeting was convened by Turkey, which cited Article 4 of the NATO charter in calling for consultations with regard to its recent escalation in Syria and crackdown on the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). “At the moment, Turkey has come under attack and is exercising its right to defend itself and will exercise this right until the end,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, “but what we’re saying is that there could be a duty for NATO, and we ask NATO to be prepared for this.” Though NATO reaffirmed its commitment to Turkey’s national security, the European Commission urged Erdogan “to keep the settlement process with the Kurdish people on track.”
Erdogan also spoke on Sunday by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Turkey’s intervention in Syria in advance of the NATO meeting. According to a Kremlin statement, they discussed ways to better cooperate in fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.