Last week, the former Soviet Republic of Belarus briefly captured international attention when it compelled a passenger flight traversing its airspace to land—so that Belarusian police could arrest an expatriate, dissident journalist who was onboard, along with his girlfriend. Aykan Erdemir notes why observers of the Middle East should pay attention:
[Last] Wednesday, NATO issued a statement condemning the “forced diversion” and declared its support for “measures taken by Allies individually and collectively in response to this incident.” According to Reuters, Turkey blocked punitive steps for which Baltic allies and Poland had pressed. Ankara also prevented calls for additional Western sanctions on Belarus and the release of political prisoners there.
This is not the first time that Erdogan has rushed to Lukashenko’s aid. In August 2020, when the European Council called Belarus’s disputed presidential election “neither free nor fair” and refused to recognize the results, Erdogan was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Lukashenko, joining other authoritarian leaders, including Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Collusion between Ankara and Moscow to undermine NATO is nothing new. When Turkey signed a missile deal with Russia in 2017, it became the first NATO member to purchase big-ticket military hardware from Moscow. Since then, Turkey also became the first NATO member that the United States has sanctioned [for] significant transactions with the Russian defense or intelligence sectors.
Read more on FDD: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/05/28/erdogan-saves-putins-belarusian-ally/