Is It Time to Expel Turkey from NATO?

Ted Galen Carpenter

Security, Europe

It's time for NATO to hold Turkey accountable for its abrasive behavior, both at home and abroad.

Turkey’s rash action in shooting down a Russian plane that apparently violated Turkish airspace for no more than 17 seconds is only the latest incident that should set off alarm bells in other NATO capitals.  Ankara’s reckless belligerence was exceeded only by its hypocrisy.  Turkish planes violated the airspace of Greece more than 2,000 times in 2014 alone, and 2014 was a typical year for such incidents.  Greek officials have long complained that their country must devote a considerable portion of its defense budget to intercept aircraft engaging in such violations.  Fortunately, though, Athens has never emulated Turkey’s standard and blasted offending aircraft out of the sky.

The incident with Russia is worrisome.  Fortunately, Vladimir Putin’s government has responded thus far only with economic sanctions.  But Putin also has made it clear that a repetition of an attack on Russian planes operating out of Syria could lead to far more serious consequences.  That possibility is not merely a matter of academic interest to other NATO countries.  Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty obligates its signatories to regard an attack on one member as an attack on all.  Sorting out whether a future incident is a case of Russian aggression or a Turkish provocation and overreaction could be more than a little difficult—and entail potentially dire consequences.