Robert Ustyan: Turkiye will not leave NATO and will always try to move towards the United States

Speaking with Alpha News, Robert Ustyan, a political scientist and expert on Turkish policy, commented on Turkiye’s foreign policy and how it is trying to balance the West, Russia and the Islamic world.

“Turkey is a member of NATO, and NATO is a military-political alliance, so Erdogan knows very clearly what lines should be followed in dialogue with different countries. Turkiye remains critically dependent on Western financing, and the United States has always been the main supporting force, not only virtually but generally, of the right-wing ideology that Erdogan’s party adheres to.

Everything here is important to understand in context. The United States has always understood very clearly that it is obliged to support these conservative, right-wing sentiments in Turkish society because it was afraid of the Soviet threat and exploited it in every possible way. And today, in Turkiye and in Erdogan’s party, those who were met by students with leftist ideology who did not want the dominance of the United States in Turkish discourse, both in foreign and domestic politics, are in power. Now it is clear why Turkiye doesn’t want to withdraw from NATO. Because, in this case, the United States will act differently. There are people in power in Turkiye who know where and how to move to diversify their policy, but they all understand very well that during critical moments, Turkiye will move towards the United States.

You know, you should listen to former officials. This week Matthew Bryza gave a shocking interview to one of the Georgian journalists. Matthew Bryza is a staff diplomat of the State Department. He was the US ambassador to Azerbaijan, and he tells ‘amazing things with his blue eyes.’

He says that it is always very important for them to cooperate with Azerbaijan and Turkiye. They have always understood that Azerbaijan is very important to them. Armenia was not important because it had no transit corridor and in general… Then he adds that there is an Armenian diaspora in the States and that they are trying to take this into account. But Azerbaijan has two factors: energy, which is very important.
And here, Mr. Bryza says something absolutely fantastic. He says, as you know, Azerbaijan borders Iran, and a huge number of Azerbaijanis live in Iran, and we believe that Azerbaijan is a role model for a secular society, which should also be in Iran. Then he says, you don’t think that I support separatist sentiments; the United States supports separatist sentiments in Iran. Now you understand everything that concerns the West,” Robert Ustyan stressed.