Turkey calls on NATO to support its security concerns
"We are not against NATO's retaliation plans for the Baltic nations but (NATO) should also want for Turkey what it wants for the Baltics," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in his comments to reporters on Thursday as voicing their concerns related to the national security.
- Sports
- AP
- Published Date: 04:19 | 28 November 2019
- Modified Date: 04:19 | 28 November 2019
Turkey's foreign minister has called on NATO to support Ankara's security concerns, accusing allies of backing Baltic countries' security concerns but dismissing threats to Turkey from the YPG militants.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made the comments Thursday. He confirmed media reports that said Turkey was blocking a NATO defense proposal for the Baltic nations and Poland until the alliance supports Turkey's concerns relating to the YPG -- viewed by Ankara as the Syrian extension of the bloody-minded PKK terror group.
Çavuşoğlu said: "We are not against NATO's retaliation plans for the Baltic nations but (NATO) should also want for Turkey what it wants for the Baltics."
He said the NATO chief was working to overcome the dispute.
A plan to defend the Baltic nations in case of a Russian attack needs the backing of all member states.