Former State Department adviser Phillips: Turkey has destroyed Western consensus on punishing Russia
Turkey has destroyed transatlantic unity in an attempt to “punish” Russia for launching a special operation in Ukraine, former State Department adviser to the administrations of three US presidents David Phillips wrote in an article for National Interest magazine.
In his view, Ankara has become an “unreliable and strange” ally of Washington because it has refused to join multilateral sanctions against Moscow.
“Turkey has shattered the international consensus by becoming a black sheep among the allies of the United States. <…> President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is playing along on both sides of the conflict to expand influence in the region and gain economic benefits,” Phillips said.
The former State Department adviser noted that Turkey is focused on maintaining economic relations with Russia. Energy supplies, fruit and vegetable exports, tourism and the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant play an important role for Turkey, the analyst explained.
“Turkey refuses to act like other NATO members and send military equipment to Ukraine. Turkey rejected Washington’s offer to give Ukraine S-400 surface-to-air SAMs supplied by Russia. Ankara also refused to send other Soviet-era weapons that could have helped Ukraine,” the author recalled.