NATO will keep Turkey in the marriage out of interest

NATO has decided to continue supporting Turkey militarily despite anger over its operation in Syria and deal with Russia, according to five senior diplomats.

Spain has threatened to withdraw Patriot missiles from Turkey in protest at its cross-border offensive that NATO allies say threatens the fight against Islamic State militants. Ankara claims that the aim of the action is the fight against terrorism.

At Thursday's meeting of NATO ministers, the alliance's first high-level summit since Tayyip Ergodan launched an operation in Syria on October 9, Spain's Margarita Robles said Madrid would not withdraw its missiles.

Diplomats said that this change underscores that NATO, despite alarm over Turkey's behavior in Syria, is determined to keep Turkey on its side, reports Reuters.

At the North Atlantic Council, NATO's top body, Turkey's Hulusi Akar maintained a defiant tone Thursday night, arguing that his country has as much right to reach agreements with Russia as it does with the United States. A small group of countries, led by France, were fiercely critical, Reuters reported.

"Efforts are being made to keep things from getting worse," a NATO diplomat told the British agency. "Turkey, after (US President) Trump, put additional pressure on the alliance. But Turkey is too important to lose."

Turkey, whose Incirlik base houses American nuclear warheads and whose army is the second largest in the Alliance, provides NATO with a strategic presence, primarily in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, according to Reuters.

NATO needs Turkey on its side as it faces militant attacks in Europe and seeks to fend off ballistic missile threats from Iran to North Korea, the commentary added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Alliance had overcome differences in the past, especially during the invasion of Iraq, which was opposed by France and Germany.

"It is not the first time that we have different positions in NATO," he told reporters.

However, Turkey's offensive against Kurdish forces and the agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on patrols in northern Syria have caused a series of disputes.

A purge of Western-educated Turkish military officers after a 2016 coup attempt, Turkey's purchase of a Russian air defense system and Erdogan's authoritarianism mean Turkey would not meet the alliance's membership standards if it joined today, Reuters estimates.

Erdogan's comments in September that it was unacceptable for Turkey not to have its own nuclear weapons also unsettled diplomats, according to Reuters, noting that Ankara has signed two agreements that prohibit nuclear detonations for any purpose.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Turkey's operation was "disapproved" and the latest sign that Ankara is heading in the wrong direction.

In the founding treaty of 1949, NATO does not have a mechanism to exclude a member from its ranks.

Turkey joined in 1952. Some diplomats have complained privately that there is nothing to allow suspension or sanctions against a member that commits violations.

The Alliance is somewhat convinced that Russia can never offer Turkey the collective security guarantees that NATO provides, the British agency points out.

Ultimately, Reuters adds, the allies agree that Turkey is of key importance for the Alliance, given its strategic position between Europe and Asia.

"In NATO, a long-term game is played, the family is kept together. Historically, it works," said Jamie Shay, a former NATO official who is now in the "Friends of Europe" organization.