Ukraine Dispatch 21 | When a Partner Cannot be Trusted

Ukraine Dispatches

Volume 1 2022

Part I

WHEN President Erdogan was first elected, many believed that that ancient shroud ~ the old sick man of Europe was, at last, being thrown off. Turkey was firmly on a path to freedom and democracy.

Then came that country’s treatment of its Kurdish population.

Then came Mr Erdogan’s determination to move his country to autocracy, with him in charge, a lifetime presidency, a country with no effective opposition.

The West was presented with a dilemma. Was not Turkey a member of NATO?

Part II

The Invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the realisation:

that Vladimir Putin had morphed into a 21st Century-Adolf-Hitler

that 144 million Russians, bar the few who were promptly put away or taken out completely, hailed the man as our god and our king

Western Nations were not surprised.

Given the choice of freedom and democracy or dictatorship, Russians opted for the easy route … the latter.

Tell us what to do. Order us. Then we know we’ll be alright! We can’t cope with making informed choices between different political parties. We find freedom irksome. We prefer to know where we stand, and to do as we’re told! In turn, we then find it very easy to tell others what to do, if they know what’s good for them.

The consequent brain drain from Russia leaves as fast as it can, as it always has.

Part III

That unpleasant question raised its ugly head again on 24 February 2022, when NATO discovered that Turkey was not overly critical of Russia.

Mr Erdogan found himself sitting astride his tightrope. Duplicitous, complicit, a man who cannot be trusted.

Cast in the mould of that other half-castrated fascist, Franco, who managed to remain astride his tightrope and court with Hitler and Mussolini but refused to be drawn into a war he knew would see his country smashed to smithereens, he stayed the course. It took Spain a lifetime to rid itself of him.

Part IV

Now, we have Mr Erdogan. Turkey will not agree to Sweden joining NATO unless they get their way with the Kurdish people.

Apparently, there is no mechanism to enable a NATO member to be expelled.

Judging from public comment today, however, Mr Erdogan should not presume they are firmly lodged.

Unlike dictatorships, liberal democracy lives and breathes, moves with the times, and adapts to present circumstances. Mr Erdogan is definitely NOT a man to be trusted.

19 May 2022
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© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2022