NATO holds plenary session in Istanbul

21.11.2016
Turkey

The next plenary session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is beginning in Istanbul. During the session, which has already been running for three days, the most pressing issues facing the alliance, such as collaboration within the organization and the failure of attempts to pressure Russia, have been discussed.

The Turkish coup

Of course, it was impossible not to touch on the coup in Istanbul. However, those gathered shyly passed silently over the participation of high-ranking NATO officials in the coup conspiracy. Moreover, NATO has made it clear that it has failed to use it for its own aims.

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said: ”Turkey is a very important but a very vulnerable partner." But Ankara remembers that NATO used all available means to make it vulnerable in the first place.

This is probably why, just before the final meeting, Tayyip Erdogan made a series of high-profile statements, including on accession to the SCO instead of the EU, in order to distance himself from the ongoing Atlanticist summit in the country.

The Russian question

For the whole three days, most of the session’s program centered on issues concerning the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, or as NATO put it “a reflection of Russian aggression.” Needless to say, the statements heard there bore a rather populist character.

Despite Stoltenberg’s words on the need for dialogue, a resolution was passed bearing a sharp “anti-Russian character.” The document reads: “It is completely obvious that there are no conditions favorable to improving relations at the present time.” 

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Coup in Turkey