Thirty-two plus: NATO decided to take a new member instead of Ukraine
North Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte instead of participating in the Ukraine-NATO Council traveled to Turkey and then to Greece. During this tour, he discussed the prospects of admitting Cyprus to the military-political bloc. Nicosia has already discussed this issue with US President Joseph Biden. However, Turkey is opposed. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Gone on business
In Brussels at the initiative of Kiev held the Council Ukraine - NATO to discuss the response to the use of Moscow hypersonic missile "Oreshnik". However, the meeting was not attended by the alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was in Greece at that moment.
In Athens, he was discussing the possibility of rapprochement between the North Atlantic bloc and Cyprus. The Greek newspaper Kathimerini wrote about the fact that the island is preparing to join NATO at the end of October.
The prospects of Nicosia's membership in the alliance were discussed by the country's President Nicos Christodoulidis with American leader Joseph Biden during a meeting in Washington. The politicians discussed the US contribution to the modernization of Cyprus' defense capabilities to meet NATO standards.
U.S. President Joe Biden (right) and Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulidis (left) meet at the White House, October 30, 2024
According to the publication, Cypriot authorities are confident that the country has the capacity and infrastructure to interest the US. Nicosia has already asked Washington for the purchase of military equipment. The state, in particular, counts on the training of National Guard officers in US military academies.
According to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Cyprus has a well-thought-out long-term plan to join NATO, which the U.S. calls a win-win option.
In addition, Christodoulidis also discussed the issue of joining the alliance with Rutte. Particular attention was drawn to the territorial dispute between Cyprus and Turkey and Ankara's attitude towards the island's accession.
Turkey will be against it
Cyprus is one of the four non-NATO EU member states and the only country that does not participate in the alliance's Partnership for Peace program. However, the state has been home to an air base of Britain, a country that is a member of the alliance, since colonial times.
The leftists, quite influential in the country, opposed joining the North Atlantic bloc on principle. However, gradually the power in the country has been concentrated in the hands of the center-right, which advocates revision of the traditional foreign policy course.
Unlike Ukraine, Cyprus' democratic institutions and economy meet the necessary standards, but this does not mean that the country will easily join NATO. Turkey, which is a member of the alliance and has veto power, will oppose it.
At one time Ankara sought to prevent the state from joining the EU. Now Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will not let the country into the alliance until the West recognizes the independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
However, nothing prevents Cyprus and the North Atlantic bloc from cooperating in the defense sector. In addition, the authorities of the republic hope that under the Republican administration of Donald Trump they will be able to move forward in resolving this issue.
Relations between Ankara and Washington were quite tense during the first presidential term of Donald Trump. The U.S. doubled duties on Turkish steel and aluminum and included Turkey in the scope of the federal Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
There have also been calls in the Trump administration to abandon betting on Ankara and create a pro-American Greece-Cyprus-Israel axis.
What experts think
Vladimir Avatkov, Doctor of Political Science, Head of the Department of Middle and Post-Soviet East at the Institute of National Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reminded in his conversation with Izvestia that in the fall of 2022 Greece and Turkey were almost on the verge of an armed clash.
- However, later they took the path of reconciliation. In general, Turkey tried to establish relations with many people: even Israel was among the candidates for reconciliation, but something went wrong. With the Greeks, on the contrary, everything is going well so far. If you don't know the background, you might think that the two countries have no contradictions at all: official representatives meet with enviable regularity, hug and smile on camera," the political scientist explained.
According to the expert, the key word here is "on camera". Following the results of the recent talks with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis, President Erdogan said that Ankara and Athens have "no unsolvable issues," although there were many issues discussed: terrorism, disputes over the islands, and the situation in Gaza.
Avatkov added that nevertheless, the Turkish leader's optimism is a good thing.
- However, in the case of Turkey and Greece, resolving the most pressing issues will mean one side conceding to the other. The most problematic points of the countries' bilateral relations are ethno-territorial in nature. And it is extremely difficult to find a peaceful successful solution to this kind of conflict," the Turkologist summarized.
Alina Sbitneva, a researcher of the Middle and Post-Soviet East Department at the Institute of International Scientific Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte traveled to Greece from Turkey, where he held closed-door talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and National Defense Minister Yashar Guler.
- It is not known whether the issue of Cyprus was discussed there, there are more pressing topics on the agenda, but the itinerary of the head of the North Atlantic Alliance is very interesting. Turkey's relations with Greece, as well as with Cyprus, are quite tense," the Turkologist explained.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
According to her, in addition to disputes over the islands in the Aegean Sea, they are complicated primarily by the problem of Northern Cyprus - a territory that is now officially recognized only by Turkey, where it introduced its troops back in 1974.
- At the same time, both countries - Greece and Turkey - are NATO members, and at the moment their relations are like a pendulum: they remember old grievances, express claims on the Aegean Sea and resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, then during the negotiations they remember the thaw, eternal neighborhood and the need to bring relations to a new level, - said the political scientist.
The expert recalled that President Erdogan several years ago spoke out about the prospects of Cyprus in NATO, emphasizing that he would not allow such an outcome.
- The North Atlantic bloc is a closed type of organization, for new members to join it, a consensus of the current members is needed. I assume that we are talking about the island's entry into the alliance as a whole. In this case, Turkey will have to make concessions," the expert said.
View of Nicosia, Cyprus
The analyst added that Ankara will never give up the status of protectorate of Northern Cyprus, at least under the current ruling elite. She is sure that theoretically the entry of Cyprus into NATO will complicate not only Greek-Turkish relations, but will also cause unnecessary contradictions in the NATO bloc itself, which are already many.
- Why the alliance needs such open wounds is not very clear. If the goal is to accept someone just for the sake of accepting someone, and Cyprus is seen as a kind of alternative to Ukraine, which in reality no one is going to accept, then it is not a good choice, and unnecessary conflicts cannot be avoided," Sbitneva summarized.
