NATO and Russia

The policy of the USA against the Warsaw Pact countries during the cold war was the policy of containment. The purpose of this policy was to prevent the expansion of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This policy was the main reason for the NATO membership of Turkey and Greece. While the North Atlantic prevented the expansion of its rival, on the other hand, it aimed to expand its alliance especially to the east.

After the disintegration of the USSR in 1991, Russia, which is the continuing state of the union, had an important request from the USA and NATO. This demand was that the former union members should not be members of NATO and that this containment should end. NATO, led by the USA, actually approved this request at that time. As a result, with the collapse of the other side, NATO became the winner of the cold war and there was no point in containment anymore. But the political reality did not manifest in this way. While it was claimed that NATO's effectiveness would end and its existence would become meaningless, NATO's operations in Kosovo, Libya and Afghanistan, except for Article 5, increased the importance of NATO, which seemed to have no opposition. This situation caused the former USSR countries to see their own security within the NATO alliance. These countries saw the solution to get rid of Russia's oppression and influence on the former USSR members with its continuing state status, in NATO membership. Russia's unnecessary oppressive understanding of these countries also accelerated this process. The number of NATO members, which was 16 when the USSR collapsed, increased to 30 today. NATO, whose effectiveness is said to decrease, expanded as it expanded and based on Russia's backyard, namely Ukraine and Georgia.

This is the reason for Putin's reproach that the continuation of this trend is unacceptable. For Russia, which has increased its power in the last 20 years, the knife has reached the bone. If Ukraine falls, Russia falls too. While it was expected that the containment would end, it increased even more and reached indispensable regions for Russia. The situation becomes even more clear when it is considered that the main security policy of the US President Biden is to put the world back in a bipolar order and he categorized it as democratic on the one hand and non-democratic on the other.

It is inevitable for each country to take steps to ensure its own security. If Ukraine and/or Georgia want their governments, their peoples give their consent and they want to be NATO members, it is impossible for NATO not to accept it. NATO cannot avoid supporting this idea, since the more members it has, the better it will ensure the security of its members. In such a situation, Russia's intervention in Ukraine will create a democratically unacceptable situation and will push Russia into an anti-democratic position. Anti-democratic countries are shaped by NATO under the leadership of the USA on one side of the bipolarity and by the USA on the other hand under the leadership of Russia. Thus, the USA aims to consolidate its world leadership, to eliminate China and to make Russia the leader of the anti-democratic world.

After all, the crisis in Ukraine is not between Russia and Ukraine, but between Russia and NATO. The solution will also be between these two components. Due to its maritime border neighborhood with Russia and Ukraine, good relations with both countries and being a NATO member, Turkey is the key country of this crisis. Turkey should use this power correctly and appropriately, and should not disrupt and develop its relations with both sides. In the event of a possible war, NATO member Turkey cannot be expected to remain neutral, which will lead to the deterioration of Turkish-Russian relations, which may lead to developments against Turkey, especially in Syria. For this reason, Turkey should support any attempt to prevent war.

As can be seen, the motto of Atatürk, the leader of Turkey's founding philosophy, "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" continues to increase its importance day by day and consolidates its main place in Turkish foreign policy. The only correct way for Turkey, which still experiences the political and economic weaknesses of the deviations from this main policy, even minor ones, is to support peaceful policies at home and in the world.