The international community agrees that Turkey and Syria must be helped after the earthquake. However, the support may not be entirely altruistic.
Ankara – After the devastating earthquake, Turkey can count on the solidarity of the West. Even countries less well-disposed towards Ankara, such as Greece or Sweden, pledge support. Russia is also getting involved. And NATO could use the catastrophe to assert its own interests in the dispute over northern expansion. Will the earthquake become a political issue?
Aid after earthquakes: World community pledges support
First of all: The West is basically in agreement that Turkey and Syria must be helped after the disaster that has already killed more than 10,000 people. The willingness to help from all over the world is huge. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has already phoned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and assured him of his support. The Technical Relief Agency (THW) and numerous aid organizations are on site.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also called Erdogan and offered to send rescue workers to the country. “In the coming hours, rescue workers from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations will fly to Syria,” the Kremlin said. Erdogan accepted the Russian offer of help.
Greece was one of the most likely to agree to help. The Mediterranean state and Turkey have been arguing about the status of Greek islands in the Aegean for years, and Erdogan recently even threatened to attack the neighboring country with rockets. Currently, the dispute seems secondary. The Turkish ambassador in Germany, Ahmet Basar Sen, showed up to the Newspapers of the Funke media group grateful for the help. The fact that Greece has pledged support faster than most countries “means a lot to the Turkish people”.
Meanwhile, Sweden is helping another country that recently had its differences with Erdogan’s Turkey. Again and again there were disputes about the public burning of the Koran. In addition, Turkey has so far stood in the way of NATO’s northern expansion to include Finland and Sweden. Ankara is demanding that Stockholm take a harder line on Kurdish activists it considers “terrorists”. This in turn could raise the earthquake to a political level. Because NATO is also involved in disaster relief. However, there are initial speculations that the military alliance is also pursuing its own interests in this regard.
Speculations about the NATO deal: Aid in contrast to the NATO yes?
As the Editorial network Germany reported, agreements are already being made in the background for certain deals to appease Erdogan’s NATO policy. The idea: western help is linked to western requests. Nobody wants to say that officially, but there are signs. It is striking that for the USA it is not the state aid agency USAID that coordinates the aid, but Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan. He should also bring the NATO dispute to an end.
In the light of the catastrophe, one can now influence Erdogan, US media also report. The Washington Post commented: “Where conventional diplomacy fails, humanitarian diplomacy can break the ice.” At the same time, there is room for negotiation. For example, when it comes to preventing Turkey from attacking Kurdish fighters in Syria. A point that has worked moderately so far. Erdogan apparently continued to bomb Kurdish areas after the earthquake. Josef Janning from the German Society for Foreign Relations (DGAP) oracle at Focus Onlinethat NATO’s northern expansion could still be approved – in return for more development aid. This is also supported by the fact that Sweden currently holds the rotating EU Council Presidency – and thus also has a decisive influence on Turkey’s aid.
Another offer to negotiate is also circulating in the United States. The US could use the F16 fighter jets demanded by Erdogan deliver, whose export to Turkey would not find approval in the US Congress as things stand at present. Quasi as a contrast to Erdogan’s “yes” to NATO’s northern expansion. 29 senators indicated this step in a letter to Joe Biden before the earthquake. “Once Turkey has ratified the NATO accession protocols, Congress may consider selling F-16 fighter jets. However, failure to do so would put this upcoming sale in jeopardy.”
Earthquake in Turkey affects May election
Moreover, Erdogan is coming under pressure just months before the landmark presidential election. Erdogan’s crisis management has been criticized the earthquake tax is said not to have arrived. There was criticism from the population that they were being abandoned by the authorities during the rescue work. During a visit to two regions particularly affected by the disaster, Erdogan said on Wednesday: “Of course there are deficits. You can see the conditions very clearly.” It is not possible “to be prepared for such an earthquake,” he added.
The earthquake occurred in the early hours of Monday morning in the Turkish-Syrian border area. Rescue workers are still looking for survivors, but experts expect the number of victims to continue to rise in the freezing temperatures. On Wednesday, the combined death toll in the two countries rose to more than 11,700. Erdogan wants to be re-elected on May 14 and extend his two-decade presidency. Due to the catastrophe, the election is now taking a back seat. (as)
#Putin #Erdogan #dialogue #secret #NATO #conditions #catastrophe #political #issue