Ankara will keep holding up a NATO plan to strengthen forces in Poland and the Baltics until the alliance approves a plan to protect Turkey from a terrorist threat, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) Ankara will keep holding up a NATO plan to strengthen forces in Poland and the Baltics until the alliance approves a plan to protect Turkey from a terrorist threat, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.
During last week's NATO summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that he would veto the alliance's plan for defending the Baltics unless the bloc designated Syria's Kurdish militia as terrorists. Following the leaders' meeting, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the plan had been agreed, meaning that Turkey had dropped the demand. Ankara, however, later denied making any concessions at the summit.
"We had to block the decision on the Baltic Sea. Both our plan and the Baltic plan are awaiting approval. Until our plan is approved, the other one will not be approved either. Both plans must be endorsed simultaneously. NATO has a duty to protect Turkey as well as the Baltics," Cavusoglu told A Haber tv channel.
He added that Turkey's security was no less important than the one of Baltic nations.
Ankara has been at odds with NATO allies after the latter condemned its military operation against Kurdish militia in northeastern Syria. Unlike Turkey, the United States and Europe see the Kurds as partners in fighting terrorists.
