Although Turkey is operating in Syria, contrary to Article 1 of the NATO Charter, the Western military organization still praises it warmly; yesterday, the head of NATO's Military Committee said that Turkey's role in the organization is "vital," and boasted that the Turkish military is second in NATO in strength, equipment, and readiness . Article 1 of the NATO Charter states that members "shall settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means"; the Islamist al-Sharaa attack on Damascus, with Turkey's support, is not a means of peace. Turkey's covert participation in the coup in Syria, the war on the Kurds, and the threats against Israel (for example, the threat to Israel in talks in Azerbaijan not to fly over Syria, and to reduce its presence to the northern Golan Heights, instead of through dialogue), clearly contradict this article. In two weeks, the annual NATO summit will convene in Istanbul; at the moment it does not appear that Israel will try to expose Turkey's face there. Yesterday, Defense Minister Katz implicitly referred to Turkey's threats: "There will be no immunity for anyone, we will not allow threats to the State of Israel," he said after Israel attacked surface-to-air missile components in Syria. Here we reported exclusively (issue 192) that Turkey had supplied Syria with anti-aircraft radar systems; and in issue 195 we reported that Israel had destroyed Hawk missiles that Turkey had supplied to Syria (and probably also the aforementioned radar). The West needs Turkey now more than in the past; this need explains the flattery towards it: after Trump distanced himself from Europe, and Biden distanced himself from Israel, key countries including Germany, France, and England, need a new factor that will allow them access to the Middle East. Germany even authorized the sale of a Eurofighter to Turkey following its new affection for Ankara. Is Erdogan excited by the European support for him, after decades of Turkey being an outcast, and after all its efforts to join the European Union were met with cold contempt? On the contrary, yesterday at the Global Islamic Economic Forum, which is being held for the second year in Istanbul, Erdogan attacked the Western "interest-based" economy and promised to confront it (through Islamic economics). The Islamic Forum for Global Economics is, in our assessment, the beginning of the construction of the new Turkish imperial economy, according to Erdogan's vision, as well as according to Sharia law.
(Correction of an error on June 4, 2025: The NATO Foreign Ministers' Conference will be today, not June 15; the conference will be held in Brussels, not Istanbul. The preliminary conference was held in Istanbul, as we previously noted here)