[Cyprus Times] "Catapulting" Menendez against Turkey. "Fire" against USA for equal distances

"Catapulting" Menendez against Turkey "Fire" against US for equal distances

The judgment that the US rightly chose to abstain from the talks between Turkey, Sweden and Finland for the accession of the two Scandinavian countries to NATO were expressed by leading members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ankara is threatening to block the accession path of the two candidate countries, as it accuses Sweden and Finland of sheltering members and cadres of mainly Kurdish organizations, which it describes as terrorist entities. This has led to a series of discussions and diplomatic processes aimed at bypassing the Turkish veto by the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid.

Senate International Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez has accused Turkey of adopting an opportunistic stance in order to extract quid pro quos. He suggested that Turkey might attempt to do so with the United States if Washington were actively involved in the talks process. "I don't know what they (Turkey) are trying to extract from Sweden and Finland. But ultimately, that's the point. And maybe if we (the US) get into the game, they (the US) will want to extract quid pro quo from us as well. That would be something I would be totally against. We don't need any concessions for two large democracies to join NATO."

He further argued that Turkey's reservations only serve Vladimir Putin.

In the same vein, minority leader Jim Rees seemed to be on the same wavelength, saying that "these (discussions) are best left to them (Turkey, Sweden and Finland) without us (the US) at this stage. But it must be fully understood that this issue absolutely must be resolved because it is extremely important." In this light, the Republican senator stressed that Sweden and Finland's NATO membership is an immediate priority for the alliance and stood by the fact that the two candidate countries are holding talks in good faith with Turkey.

The Swedish government has already decided to lift the arms embargo on Turkey.

Senator Chris Van Hollen: Turkey blames Finland and Sweden for following the same policy as the US

Taking the baton, Senator Chris Van Hollen argued that Finland and Sweden's policies are fully in line with the stance taken by the US and most allies on terrorism and Kurdish organizations. As he explained, both candidate countries recognize the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) as a terrorist organization.

The senator from Maryland, however, did not shy away from the issue of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Not only have these Kurdish units not been designated a terrorist organisation by the State Department, but they have spearheaded the war against the Islamic State and have thus proved to be the most reliable partners of the United States in the region. With this in mind, Senator Van Hollen argued that the Turkish accusations against Sweden and Finland are implicitly but explicitly an indictment of the United States government.

"To be clear, Sweden has already passed a law recognizing the PKK as a terrorist organization, right? Therefore, it is aligned with the United States and most of our partners. And isn't it true that the United States has been a strong partner with the Syrian Democratic Forces (ed. So, to be clear, I want to resolve this issue, but we need to make it clear to (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan that (Turkey) criticizes Sweden and Finland for actions by the United States. President Erdogan also wants Gulen extradited. We are a country that recognizes the rule of law. So do Sweden and Finland. And also you know, we have had concerns here (in Congress) about the deployment of Russian (anti-aircraft defense systems) S-400 in Turkey and we have taken action in this committee. So I want to support the talks that are going on. But let's recognize that the positions that Sweden and Finland have taken are almost in line with the U.S. position on SSA and the very important fight against the Islamic State and terrorism," the U.S. senator said.

Senator Menendez's focus is on the "Equal Distance" policy: I am not constrained by the limitations you feel at the State Department

Senator Menendez did not fail to express his disappointment that once again the State Department is once again avoiding taking a clear position and merely limiting itself to urging the three countries to work together to overcome the problem. Addressing Karen Donfried, the Under Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, he said "I don't have the same constraints that all of you in the State Department may have. I think you're specifically addressing anyone who is wrong about something. And if there are places that are wrong, then you're addressing a lot of places. But as Senator Van Hollen said, the reality is that Finland and Sweden are now aligning themselves with our policies when it comes to the PKK, the SDGs, and our fight against the Islamic State. Therefore, it is a bit disingenuous to urge all parties to cooperate."

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee continued to take aim at the "equidistance" policy, saying "I would just note for the record that in the 30 or so years I've been involved in foreign policy one of the things that bugs me about the State Department, regardless of who is in government, is that we call on all parties to do something when ultimately not all parties are responsible for the conflict or the issue or the problem that we're dealing with."

NATO summit in Madrid: race against time to overcome the Turkish veto hurdle

During her testimony before the Foreign Relations Committee, US Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfrid expressed optimism that the accession talks will come to fruition by the time of the NATO summit in Madrid.

"We are confident that the issue will be resolved in a positive way. There is deep and broad support throughout the NATO Alliance for the accession of Finland and Sweden. Therefore, we hope that we will soon have a positive resolution," she said."

This particular statement was responded to by Senator Chris Van Hollen, who pressed the Secretary of State to give a concrete timetable, asking if she is in a position to confirm that a unanimous agreement on the accession of Sweden and Finland will be secured by the time of the NATO Summit in Madrid. Karen Donfried limited her reply to "I will tell you that we are certainly pushing for that."

Source: in.gr

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