According to NATO's official website, "NATO Defense Ministers are meeting in Brussels this week (14-15 February 2023) to strengthen the Alliance's deterrence and defence, strengthen and support Ukraine.
In a preview of the meeting on Monday (February 13, 2023), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted the urgent need to deliver key capabilities to Ukraine before Russia can take the initiative on the battlefield."
According to an International Media article, "Turkish Minister Akar will not attend the NATO meeting.
After the earthquakes centered on Kahramanmaraş, search and rescue efforts began in 10 provinces, including Hatay, and are ongoing.
As it became known, the Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar will not be able to attend the NATO Defense Ministers Summit due to his work in the earthquake zone.
Minister Akar, who came to Hatay with the Chief of the General Staff General Yaşar Güler and the Commander of the Ground Forces General Musa Avsever immediately after the earthquake and is monitoring the search and rescue activities, supporting the earthquake-affected Turkish citizens on the ground here and 9 days.
Instead of YPAM Akar, Turkey will be represented by the permanent representative of NATO Levent Gümrükçü."
The new statements of the German Foreign Ministry on Sweden-Finland integration disturbed Turkey
"For their course in NATO, Finland and Sweden still need a yes from Ankara" said according to a German media article, during a visit to Helsinki, German Foreign Minister Baerbock, who made it clear that the accessions must be implemented without delay.
Main points of the article are the following:
"Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is pushing for the rapid accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. "At the NATO summit in Madrid last summer, we jointly laid the foundations for accession. And of course we expect all NATO members to implement this decision without further delay," the Green politician said during a visit to Helsinki ahead of Turkey's blockade.
Hungary has not yet given its consent either. All 30 NATO members must agree to the expansion. Baerbock said Germany is pushing Finland and Sweden to join the Western military alliance. Both met the agreed requirements. The minister also referred to a memorandum in which the two candidates for NATO and Turkey had agreed in Madrid. At the time, the controversy seemed settled and the way was clear. But Turkey still blocks the alliance's northern expansion.
In response to the burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently threatened that Sweden could not count on Turkish support for its NATO bid. He was more open in Finland. The fact that elections are due to be held in Turkey in May also plays a role in the controversy.
Baerbock: Membership 'enriches the alliance'
Baerbock visits northern Europe for two days - first in Helsinki and then on Tuesday in Stockholm. After a conversation with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, he stressed how historic the northern Europeans' decision to join NATO after a long period of freedom from alliances was - and how beneficial it was for Germany and other alliance partners.
"So today I want to reiterate how important it is to the alliance that you want to join NATO," he told the hosts. "As a result, our alliance gains two valuable new members with whom we already work very, very closely."
The Turkish blockade continues
Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022 under pressure from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. All members must approve the joining. 28 have already done so. No objections are expected from Hungary. Turkey on the other hand has been blocking for a long time. Erdogan also justifies it by saying that Sweden is not taking sufficient measures against terrorist organizations. Above all he means the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party PKK.
What will happen next
In conclusion, we would say that the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Akar will not participate in the Summit of Ministers of NATO, due to his involvement in the coordination work he has undertaken after the devastating earthquakes in his country, which will be represented by its permanent representative in the Alliance.
At the same time, in this way, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs will avoid being in a bad position and being pressured to accept the entry of his country of Finland-Sweden into NATO, something that became apparent after yesterday's statements by the German Foreign Minister Baerbock.
As a consequence of Akar's non-participation in the NATO Summit, he will not have a meeting with his Greek counterpart Panagiotopoulos.
Our assessment is that Turkey will receive unbearable pressure in the next period of time to accept the entry of the 2 Nordic countries into NATO, which will bear fruit in March, after the Donors' Conference for Turkey and Syria organized by the EU with Sweden.
