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NATO Tag

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on May 25, 2017 7 Comments
President Donald Trump seems to have achieved a significant foreign policy aim ahead of his meeting with the leaders of 28 NATO member states. According to the reports in German media, France and Germany have formally agreed to join the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. "After sustained pressure from Washington, NATO will be joining the international coalition," German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung wrote. Other reports suggest that Manchester’s deadly terror attack, for which ISIS claimed responsibility, may have played a role in convincing Germany and France in joining the global alliance to destroy the Islamist terror group. Despite Germany’s consent, there is trouble brewing in Merkel’s camp. Her second-in-command, German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, has placed conditions on the proposed alliance, telling reporters that "combat operations were not part of NATO agreement. [NATO] is a defense alliance."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 17, 2017 17 Comments
President Donald Trump welcomed Turkish dictator president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House Tuesday. A group of protesters outside of the Turkish Embassy showed support for the groups that Erdogan regularly cracks down on in Turkey. Erdogan's bodyguards did not appreciate this move and decided to pummel the protesters in broad daylight...on Embassy Row.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 22, 2017 6 Comments
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson received massive backlash when the media reported he planned to skip a formal NATO meeting on April 5-6, but kept his Moscow trip in mid-April. A Secretary of State has only missed a formal meeting twice in the past 21 years. However, the media has buried the fact that Tillerson planned to skip the meeting because he scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jingping in Florida with President Donald Trump on April 6-7. They also casually mention that he will travel to a G7 meeting in Italy between his weekend with Xi and the trip to Russia.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 07, 2017 15 Comments
'Never believe anything until it has been officially denied,' they use to say in days of the Soviet Union. Today, the same is apparently true for the European Union. After years of official denials, E.U. has announced its plans to build a unified military command in the Belgian city of Brussels -- a move set to take NATO's European partners away from the existing transatlantic alliance. Germany's state-run ARD broadcaster called it an "attempt to transform European Union into a real defense union". Just last year in the run-up to the Brexit vote, U.K.'s Deputy Prime Minister and pro-E.U. campaigner Nick Clegg blasted U.K. Independence Party's (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage for misleading the voters on the issue of a proposed E.U. Army ahead of the referendum, saying Farage was spreading a 'dangerous fantasy that is simply not true.' That 'dangerous fantasy' is now coming true.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 18, 2017 5 Comments
Vice President Mike Pence attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany where he told Europe that America will stand behind its NATO allies. Pence also met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to assure him that America remains committed to Ukraine and that Russia upholds the Minsk Agreement. President Donald Trump rattled some cages on the campaign trail when he stated his beliefs that NATO was obsolete, leading many to believe America will abandon the organization. Pence said that will not happen:

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 16, 2017 2 Comments
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a trip to Germany. Tillerson said the U.S. will only "work with Russia when mutual cooperation is beneficial." He promised to put American interests first, though, if the two countries "do not see eye to eye." At the same time, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis soundly "rejected any kind of military collaboration with Russia." Russian President Vladimir Putin asked for more cooperation between the U.S. and NATO.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 15, 2017 2 Comments
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has told America's NATO allies that President Donald Trump's administration stands behind its allies. However, he also reiterated that other members must step up in costs:
"It's a fair demand that all who benefit from the best defense in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary cost to defend freedom," Mattis said.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 28, 2016 19 Comments
U.S. senators have traveled to NATO nations to perform their typical lip service, promising America stands behind the organization and the nations involved. NATO nations have grown concerned over America's role since Donald Trump won the election in November:
“I am convinced and certain that our relations, and the American relationship with NATO, will remain the same,” Mr. [John] McCain said at a news conference with Estonia’s new prime minister, Juri Ratas.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 20, 2016 7 Comments
Turkish special forces police officer Meviut Mert Alintas, 22, assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey on Monday during the opening of a gallery in Ankara. He shouted things about Aleppo, Syria, before cops took him down. Motives immediately swirled around, but I remained interested in who Russia and Turkey blamed. Once again, the officials did not disappoint. See, this is why it's hard not to go all Alex Jones on Russia and Turkey because you know the officials would do anything to achieve their objective. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan desperately wants America to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen so it did not surprise me when Turkish authorities linked the gunman to the cleric, who resides in Pennsylvania. It also did not surprise me that a Kremlin official close to President Vladimir Putin claimed NATO organized the assassination as a way to provoke Moscow.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 02, 2016 13 Comments
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued his rhetoric that the West had a hand in the failed coup three weeks ago. Why is all of this important? Turkey is still a member of NATO and the U.S. uses their base to strike ISIS in Syria. He said:
"The West is supporting terrorism and taking sides with coups," Erdogan said, adding that forces unhappy with Turkey's rise as a regional power were behind the coup.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 25, 2016 8 Comments
Turkey continues to purge people after a failed coup two weeks ago. Authorities said ambassadors are next while Amnesty International reported authorities have raped and tortured the detainees already behind bars. Turkey blames the Gülen Movement and have said everyone purged has connections to the group. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said they are no concentrating on his department:
"Some personnel in the ministry had been given answered questions... and some personnel were placed in key positions in the ministry," he told broadcaster France 24.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 21, 2016 6 Comments
The Turkish parliament has formally approved a three month state of emergency after a failed coup last Friday. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promises its needed to protect Turkey's democracy:
“The aim is to rapidly and effectively take all steps needed to eliminate the threat against democracy, the rule of law and the people’s rights and freedoms,” Mr. Erdogan said.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 20, 2016 9 Comments
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reached out to President Barack Obama about extraditing Fethullah Gülen, who he blames for the failed coup on Friday. The White House said:
“The president made clear to President Erdogan that the United States doesn’t support terrorists and doesn’t support individuals who conspired to overthrow a democratically elected government,” according to White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
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