Scholar: NATO-Turkey Row is Merely Saber-Rattling

Ahmet Erdi Ozturk, a research assistant at the University of Strasbourg, told Radio Sputnik that the recent row between NATO and Turkey, which erupted after the scandal at the Trident Javelin drills in Norway, is unlikely to have any far-reaching consequences, and that the populist rhetoric in Turkey differs greatly from actual politics.

Radio Sputnik: So basically this is just saber-rattling?

Ahmet Erdi Ozturk: Indeed, and Erdogan is going to use it to consolidate his supporters in Turkey while using a nationalist tone… These kinds of issues dialectically occur in Turkish politics with the EU, with United States, with Holland, with Germany and within NATO.

Radio Sputnik: Does this rhetoric actually work in Turkey? The 'this is not personal, this is not against me, this is against all of you guys?'

Ahmet Erdi Ozturk: Indeed, like making all the issues as a problem for all nations, not a one-person problem, he consolidates his (Erdogan’s) and his party’s supporters under the same aim, under the same discourse. The populism in Turkey is different; the real politic is quite different. There is a huge negotiation process between the representative of Turkey and the representative of NATO.

READ MORE: Lawmaker: NATO Declares 'Psychological War' on Turkey

Radio Sputnik: What about the EU, do you think this is going to have any effect?

Ahmet Erdi Ozturk: The relations between EU and Turkey are much more complicated. The EU cuts around the 120 billion dollars support to Turkey because of undemocratic conditions. It is a unique example in the history of the EU, so the relations between the EU and Turkey are more problematic, compared to the relations between NATO and Turkey …

Ahmet Erdi Öztürk is a research assistant in the Faculty of Law, Social Science and History at the University of Strasbourg.