It’s time to tame Erdogan

He blocked a NATO defense plan for the Baltics and Poland and regularly intimidates Greece, a NATO member state, violating the country's airspace by flying Turkish military jets.

He drilled for gas in the territorial waters of Cyprus and has begun plans to expand drilling off the coast of the Greek island of Crete. He remains at odds with Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel over ownership of natural resources, threatening to use force to secure 'his share' which could burgeon into a violent conflict.

Last but not least, he perpetuated the heated conflict with Cyprus over his demand that his puppet-the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus-enjoy equal political power to the Republic of Cyprus, which is four times larger in population and territory and is an EU member state.

Notwithstanding his threatening waywardness, he still has the chutzpa to demand that Turkey receive "complete support from our allies in the fight [in Syria] that Turkey has been carrying out alone…NATO is in a critical period during which it needs to clearly show [military] support." Asking NATO to support his reckless war on foreign land is the highest of shameless audacity.

Western excuses

All the above and some should have convinced Western powers that their occasional warnings made no impression on a tyrant who knows from past experiences that Western powers will simply not take significant punitive measures against Turkey because they made the case for him to justify his unruly behavior.

They cite the fact that Turkey has the second largest military force in NATO, albeit he uses his military forces for his foreign adventures, be they in Syria, Libya, Somalia, Qatar, or the Sudan.

They view Turkey as critical to the alliance given its strategic position between Europe and Asia, which Erdogan has only exploited to his own advantage.

They find him essential in controlling migration into Europe, even though he uses migrants as a lever to blackmail the EU into providing additional financial aid to care for the Syrian refugees.

They value Turkey's strategic importance for hosting US nuclear warheads at Incirlik Air Base, yet Erdogan continuously threatens to demand their removal if sanctions are imposed on Turkey.

They argue that NATO needs Turkey on its side to confront militant attacks in Europe, when in fact he is the chief Islamist and many Islamic militants often count on his nod.

They consider Turkey's strategic eastern location as a shield against the threat of ballistic missiles from Iran to North Korea, but ignore Erdogan's deepening ties and friendship with Iran.

And finally, NATO has persuaded itself that since there is no mechanism to allow for the expulsion, suspension, or sanctioning of a NATO member, there is little it can do other than keep Turkey close. The fact that he is in bed with Putin, the West's foremost adversary, who is resolved to weaken NATO and the US, and uses Erdogan to do his bidding, seems to matter little, believing that ultimately Turkey will always choose the Western alliance over Russia.