Lahue: I consider Turkey`s withdrawal from NATO to be improbable
ArmInfo.Turkey is an important partner to NATO. Head of the NATO Office in Georgia William Lahue expressed such an opinion during the "NATO as a stabilizing force in the South Caucasus: today's challenges and progress in the region" seminar.
According to him, Turkey has the second, by size, Army in the Alliance after USA, ensures reliable protection of southern borders of the Alliance and is practically the "Southern Gates" of NATO.
At the same time he noted that Turkey tried to demonstrate its independence not once. "recently Ankara was discussing the possibility of purchasing Chinese Air Defense means. However turkey has a agreement with NATO on unified Air Defense system, and therefore, if they purchase the weapons and implement them in the system it will be a threat to all the system as it will be vulnerable to Chinese hackers. And all the NATO members were against it", Lahue said.
At the same time he agreed with the statement that Turkey periodically threat the sovereignty of its neighbours, however the Alliance can do nothing. "In such cases the NATO can do nothing, however separate members may put pressure, for example, United Kingdom or Germany or France", Lahue said. He considers Turkey`s withdrawal from NATO to be improbable.
He also admitted that USA has a serious influence in Alliance considering its scale and possibilities. "But the other states have as well, as all the states are equal in the organization despite their scales and decisions within NATO are made in the basis of consensus."