President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent declaration of Turkey’s ambitions to join the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a blatant betrayal of NATO interests. As a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkey is expected to uphold the collective security and strategic interests of its Western allies. However, Erdogan’s pivot towards the SCO, a bloc dominated by NATO’s strategic rivals China and Russia, raises serious concerns about Ankara’s commitment to the alliance.
Turkey’s flirtation with the SCO undermines the very principles of NATO, an organization founded on mutual defense and cooperation among democratic states. By seeking alignment with autocratic regimes that frequently challenge the international order, Erdogan is sending a clear message: Turkey is willing to forsake its longstanding commitments for short-term geopolitical gains. This move not only weakens NATO’s unity but also emboldens adversaries who aim to destabilize the Western alliance.
Erdogan’s actions reflect a broader pattern of defiance against NATO. From purchasing Russian S-400 missile systems to engaging in provocative military activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey under Erdogan has repeatedly tested the patience and solidarity of its NATO partners. Now, by expressing a desire to join the SCO, Erdogan is further alienating Turkey from its Western allies and jeopardizing the strategic coherence of the alliance.
This pursuit of SCO membership is not just a misguided policy but a calculated strategy to leverage relationships with authoritarian regimes for Erdogan’s domestic and regional ambitions. It reveals a dangerous disregard for the values and security commitments that underpin NATO, risking the credibility and effectiveness of the alliance in the process. NATO members must view Erdogan’s overtures to the SCO with deep skepticism and consider the long-term implications of Turkey’s increasingly erratic foreign policy.
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