Something about needing to blackmail your allies in order to agree on something that benefits the whole alliance just doesn‘t sit right. Turkey has shown that it really isn’t to be trusted.
Turkey’s strategy has always been play the both parties since the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Understandable as it’s sitting at the intersection of different power circles, and that is the same reason it is darn attractive to those power circles.
The US blackmailed all of Europe before the UN assembly regarding the Iraq invasion and forced the Baltics to send troops in order to gain admittance. This isn’t something new within NATO. France wouldn’t even join NATO unless they agreed to defend attacks on French colonized Algeria. NATO despite whatever other functions it has is also a tool for currying geopolitical favors. Turkey is playing the game the same as everyone else. Not sure why this is surprising anyone.
There was also the recent election in Turkey, in which Erdogan was paying lip service to certain segments of the population. This was frequently speculated as one reason for Turkey’s opposition last year (with reasons discussed in the article being another factor).
