CEPA: Why We Must Tolerate Turkey

Source:CEPA Date:30Aug2024

The country has been a dam holding back the seas of regional instability during 70 years of NATO membership. It’s still badly needed.

NATO is nonetheless fortunate that an ally controls the Turkish Straits. This not only makes Bulgarian and Romanian NATO memberships more viable but also reduces Russian access to the Mediterranean. Turkey closed the Straits to all warships in early 2022, consistent with the Montreux Convention, and this has benefited Ukraine by preventing reinforcements from reaching the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which has meanwhile been seriously diminished by Ukrainian military action.