NATO Must Confront Turkey’s Human-Rights Abuses

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference, in Ankara, Turkey, on May 14, 2022. Within a two-week span, Turkey's president has caused a stir by throwing a wrench in Sweden and Finland's historic bid to join the NATO alliance, lashed out at NATO-ally Greece, and announced plans for a new incursion into Syria. Burhan Ozbilici/AP Photo

Commentary

Turkey’s obstruction of Sweden and Finland’s NATO memberships should bring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s blatant disregard for human rights, national sovereignty, and wonton aggression against the Kurdish people into focus. Turkey demands that Finland and Sweden stop harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Gülenists, whom Erdoğan considers terrorists.