A balancing act: Turkey’s misunderstood position on Ukraine | European Leadership Network

A balancing act: Turkey’s misunderstood position on Ukraine During a visit to Turkey last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged President Erdoğan to green-light Sweden and Finland’s accession to the Alliance. Some critics have argued that Turkey’s failure to ratify the Accession Protocols of the two Nordic countries is due to Turkey’s support of Russia. In reality, Turkey’s position is a result of its own legitimate security concerns. It expects the trilateral memorandum agreed upon in June by Finland, Sweden, and Turkey to yield concrete action from the two Nordic countries in its fight against terrorism which it considers an existential threat, while NATO’s new Strategic Concept defines it as one of the main threats that citizens of the Allied nations face. More:A balancing act: Turkey’s misunderstood position on Ukraine | European Leadership Network