[Split Thread] How valuable is Turkey’s control of portions of the Black Sea to NATO?

Finland and Sweden said they would join together. Now the word on the ground is that Finland might join without Sweden. Sweden has 100,000 PKK refugees/immigrants, which is what makes Erdogan baulk, together with extradition requests, claiming that PKK has put Turkish lives in danger in Syria. Finland has had about ten or twelve extradition requests from Turkey, of which two were granted and one or two are still in the pipeline.

Turkey has quite a lot of clout, being an official NATO border, via the Black Sea, with Russia and can also control who comes in and out of the narrow strait leading into it. Plus Erdogan is mountebanking to Russia.

Quote:

“This is a matter of vital national interest, and we are prepared to prevent their membership for as long as a year if necessary,” said Akif Çağatay Kılıç, an MP for the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and chair of the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee. “Turkey is the second largest army in Nato and has been providing the drones that help Ukraine defend itself. We deserve greater respect.”

GUARDIAN

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/NYf8o4g