Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Highlights
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As a NATO member, indeed one that commands the alliance’s second-largest army, Turkey wields a veto over other countries joining the US-led bloc.
✏️ The power that Turkey holds in NATO equals the ability to blackmail other countries into doing its bidding. 🔗 View Highlight
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He has used this bargaining power to issue a laundry list of demands, primarily focused on making it easier for Turkey to continue its aggressive assaults on Kurdish rights, autonomy, and political organization — and even target the Kurdish diaspora in Europe.
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the limitations of a politics ready to indulge any authoritarianism just because it is nominally opposed to Moscow.
✏️ A common enemy and shared politics will mean turning a blind eye to anything, even authoritarianism and human rights violations. 🔗 View Highlight
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Europe-wide policy of criminalization of Kurdish political activity under Turkish pressure: “When the Kurdish people defeated ISIS, we became world heroes, creating security for Europeans to have a normal life. But when we fight for our rights, we’re terrorists.”
✏️ The hypocrisy of valorizing when you help others, then criminalizing when you try to help yourself. 🔗 View Highlight
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People subscribing to Kurdish news sites and websites, donating to the Kurdish Red Crescent, or buying books from progressive publishers have been questioned by police, forcing the closure of bank accounts.
✏️ EU measures that monitor bank accounts to prevent money laundering enabled this type of profiling to happen. Laws are always in place to help those on top, not the people. 🔗 View Highlight
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Other key Turkish demands for dropping the NATO veto — notably the transfer of F-16 fighter jets from the United States and the resumption of arms sales from Sweden and Finland following their suspension in response to Turkey’s globally condemned 2019 invasion — will only further Turkey’s never-ending war against the Kurds.
✏️ More quid pro quo / blackmail by Turkey. Anything to enable their war and annexation of land from Kurds. 🔗 View Highlight
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Erdoğan has long pursued a policy of brinkmanship, sending drones to Ukraine while simultaneously refusing to join European sanctions on Moscow, welcoming Russian oligarchs evading sanctions, and failing to adequately close the Bosporus to Russian shipping.
✏️ Even with his blackmail and dangling veto power, he still treats NATO like shit and doesn’t abide by their own values. He still works with Russia and doesn’t impose any of the sanctions other NATO countries are enforcing. 🔗 View Highlight
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The battle over the Nordic countries’ accession illustrates the limitations of a security alliance that depends on the participation and consensus of authoritarian governments. For now, it’s the Kurds who will continue to bear the brunt of Erdoğan’s demands — but so long as he continues to direct NATO’s second-largest army, the Turkish president will also hold sway over the wider West.
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Other alternatives were, indeed, once on the table. In the 1970s, under Social Democratic prime minister Olof Palme, Sweden was known for supporting socialist, progressive self-determination struggles throughout the Third World. In this period, the country also maintained a relationship with the Yugoslav-led Non-Aligned Movement, uniting countries outside of NATO and the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact in pursuit of common goals in fields like debt, decolonization, and nuclear disarmament. For its part, the Kurdish movement continues to advocate for a “third way” beyond the Cold War power blocs.
✏️ Other ways were done in the past, and could be attempted again, if people were strong enough to enact bolder foreign policies and organizing with other nations. But, that’s supremely easier said than done. 🔗 View Highlight