Turkey was sharply criticized during the virtual meeting of NATO foreign ministers and, let loose by the United States, must prepare for a wave of American and European economic sanctions, said Wednesday (December 2nd) to the 'AFP several participants.

The surprise came from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who denounced "breaches" of Alliance rules and "the policy of fait accompli" pursued by Ankara in several regional crises.

Mike Pompeo was "very cash" for his last meeting at NATO by asking Turkey to "return to ally behavior", said a participant.

"His intervention was very short, but very clear," said another.

The American Secretary of State denounced "the gift" made by Ankara to Russia with the purchase of the S400 mobile anti-missile defense system "not interoperable with NATO systems". 

He also deplored the "taking hostage" of defense plans and partnerships envisaged by NATO, an attitude which "weakens the cohesion of the Alliance".

A little diplomatic tone

The Turkish actions were denounced at the London summit in 2019 by the French head of state Emmanuel Macron, but President Donald Trump had protected and defended President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The US Secretary of State had judged Turkey's actions "very aggressive" during his meeting with the French president on November 16 in Paris. 

But the report of his intervention by his services, Wednesday, made no mention of his position against Ankara. 

Asked by AFP, an American spokesperson refused to deny or confirm the statements of a closed meeting.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was visibly "uncomfortable", said one of the participants.

Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone with Jens Stoltenberg after this meeting.

"The exchange was an opportunity to address directly and in confidence the concerns expressed by a growing number of Allies on the strategic choices made by Turkey, which require clarification through a frank explanation within the Alliance in the new transatlantic context "with President Joe Biden, the Elysee said in a statement.

The severity of Mike Pompeo's intervention during the video conference "uninhibited" the other participants and, for the first time, full charges were brought against Ankara.

"Turkey is finally perceived as a problem for the Alliance, which has been denied so far, and it will have to be resolved," said a NATO official.

The Turkish problem

The head of Luxembourg's diplomacy, Jean Asselborn thus "regretted that an allied state, Turkey, was directly involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by facilitating the involvement of mercenaries in Syria".

"We insisted on our positions concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya and the illegal intervention against our ship," the Turkish minister said on his Twitter account.

A German navy frigate engaged in the European Irini mission on 20 November arrested a Turkish ship suspected of violating the arms embargo in Libya, decreed by the United Nations.

Several delegations considered that the time had come to sanction Turkey's actions.

The United States approved economic measures after the purchase of the Russian defense system.

Blocked by Donald Trump, they should come into force mechanically with the arrival of President Joe Biden's administration, it was explained.

Sanctions in preparation

Canada for its part suspended exports of electronic components used by the Turkish combat drone TB2, used in support of Azerbaijani forces during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Europeans are due to decide at a summit on December 10 whether new measures should be adopted against Ankara's behavior in the eastern Mediterranean and violations of the UN embargo on arms deliveries to Libya.

The European Commission has prepared a package of options including, in particular, sectoral economic sanctions, ready to be used.

Unanimity is required for their use and Germany has so far blocked their adoption in the hope of reaching an agreement to "develop a truly constructive relationship with Turkey".

"There will be decisions at the summit, but their scope has not yet been decided," several European officials assured AFP.

"We will have to see what positions Germany and Poland will adopt," said a minister.

With AFP

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