Ankara Says NATO Does Not Support Turkey In Combating Terrorism

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2019) NATO has failed to support Turkey in its fight against terrorism in the region, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday at a press conference.

Earlier in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu refuted allegations of Ankara making concessions during the recent NATO leaders' summit in London when it backed the alliance's defense plan for Poland and the Baltic States. He added that the alliance had two defense plans - one for Turkey and one for Poland and Baltics. According to Cavusoglu, Turkey first vetoed the Baltics plan as it had objections against its own plan.

"We are on our own in fighting against terrorism. Some people are trying to portray steps that we took to ensure our national security as disregard for NATO.

Of course, these allegations do not comply with facts," Akar said, as quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency.

He also added that Turkey continued to effectively fulfill its obligations within the alliance as the country had the second strongest army among NATO countries.

During the recent NATO leaders summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that he would veto the alliance's plans to strengthen forces in Poland and the Baltics unless the bloc designated the Syrian Kurdish militia as terrorists. However, on Wednesday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Turkey dropped the demand and eventually supported the new plan. In return, Erdogan said on Thursday that Ankara expected NATO to support its fight against Kurdish militias.