“The giant with clay feet” is a feature of the Ottoman Empire inherited by Turkey in the military field and Recep Tayyip Erdogan knows it very well, so he is blackmailing the West by joining Sweden to NATO to equip his country.
The Turkish state with a population of 80 million it makes sense to have a large army and domestic military industry, but this does not mean that the corresponding quality exists. After the 2016 coup and especially after the first US “no” to the sale of F-16s in 2019, the Turkish military does not have access to key weapons systems it needs to modernize.
The agency Reuters states that years ago Sweden and Finland have embargoed the sale of military equipment to Turkeyespecially regarding him drones equipment.
In the agreements made by Ankara to lift the NATO veto on the applications of the Scandinavian states, there was a condition to stop the embargo, especially since the domestic Bayraktars are making waves in Ukraine and there is increased demand, but no corresponding production.
THE Finland allows some indirect salesbut Sweden has not yet changed its stance and is reported to not make any move in this area, as a result of which Turkey is still delaying the ratification of joining the North Atlantic alliance.
The rivalry with Greece
However, Turkey he has issues not only with Sweden, but also with USA and Germany, because they are not selling fighters that are necessary to modernize the Turkish air force. In accordance with Bloomberg in this matter, Greece also plays a role after the acquisition of the Rafale.
A war between Greece and Turkey is considered unlikelybut the virtual dogfights in the Aegean it is one useful training tool for pilots in real conditions. THE Greece through Rafale and Western military programs which participates, is located several steps ahead in the field of aviationbut the same is not true for Turkey, which has older planes and is limited to domestic training.
By 2019 it hoped to acquire American F-16s and yes join the F-35 program, involving other Muslim countries allied to the US, such as Pakistan. But the fact that it has Russian S-400 missiles and the close business relations with Russia force the US to refuse the salefor fear that their technology will end up in Russian hands.
Thus, Erdogan is expected to pressure Solz in Berlin to acquire at least 20 Eurofightershoping in this way to convince Washington that he is not a threat. However, Germany will reportedly flatly refuse, because Ankara supports Hamas and constantly criticizes Israel, with Berlin committed to the Jewish side for historical reasons. At the same time, the recent revelations that the Turkish MIT used the Turkish minority in Germany to influence political decisions, leave little room for bargaining with Erdogan.
Now, Sweden’s accession to NATO is said to be the Turkish president’s last diplomatic card to exert relevant pressure on the West. Besides, the Turkey officially represents the West militarily in Asia after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan -he took over guarding the Kabul airport-, while diplomatic relations with African countries that Russia is approaching, make it necessary to modernize its army.
With his actions, the Turkish president considers that he is satisfying both his allies and his state, but the West has a different opinion and is allegedly trying to limit him, despite the responsibilities he has been assigned.
Source: News Beast
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
