Turkey will block a NATO plan to defend Baltic countries unless the alliance recognises a Kurdish militant group as terrorists, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday before a London summit.<\/p>\n
The NATO meeting, marking the alliance’s 70th anniversary, was set to be a tense affair with Turkey at odds with other members over its purchase of Russian missiles and recent offensive in northern Syria — among other issues.<\/p>\n
It was reported last week that Ankara was blocking NATO’s new Baltic defence plan, demanding greater support in its fight against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).<\/p>\n
Nato has mooted a plan to bolster the defences of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia against a potential attack from Russia, though details remain unclear.<\/p>\n
Erdogan said he had spoken to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda on Monday and would discuss the YPG issue with Poland and the Baltic countries in London.<\/p>\n
“With joy, we will come together and have talks on this issue,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara before boarding the plane.<\/p>\n
“But if terror organisations whom we fight against are not accepted by NATO friends as terror groups, sorry but we will be against all steps to be taken there.”<\/p>\n
The YPG is closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody insurgency against Turkey since 1984 and is designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies.<\/p>\n
But Western countries have used the YPG as a frontline force against the Islamic State group (IS) and opposed Turkey’s offensive against them in October.<\/p>\n
Erdogan hit out last week at French President Emmanuel Macron for his criticism of the offensive, saying he was suffering from “brain death”.<\/p>\n
He is due to take part in a four-way summit on Syria with leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom during the visit.<\/p>\n
There are also tensions over Turkey’s recent purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, which could lead the US to impose economic sanctions.<\/p>\n
“Our good relations with Russia and other countries is not an alternative to our relationship with our allies. It’s the opposite: it is complementary,” Erdogan said.<\/p>\n
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