Israel Matzav

Obama's BFF blocks EU from attending NATO summit unless Iran and Syria are represented

Last week, President Obama's Best Friend Forever, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, blocked Israel from attending a NATO summit in Chicago next month. Now, Erdogan is blocking the European Union (to which Turkey aspires but has not been accepted) as well, unless the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) is allowed to attend as well. The OIC's members include Iran and Syria (Hat Tip: Joshua I).

EU member states had proposed participation by some of the top EU bureaucrats, including European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, who are now unsure whether they will be able to attend the summit taking in Chicago on May 20-21 as representatives of the union due to the objections from Turkey, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday. Raising the EU's commitment to a NATO peace mission in Afghanistan, EU member countries including France had argued that the EU should be represented, while Turkey is maintaining that there should only be member state participation in the summit, the WSJ claimed.

“If non-NATO members will also participate, the OIC should be represented [in the Chicago summit] first and foremost,” Turkish diplomatic sources said in explaining Ankara’s position, speaking to Today’s Zaman on Sunday. The sources claimed that the OIC’s commitment exceeded the EU contribution in the Afghanistan peace mission.

The EU has exerted efforts for the reconstruction and democratization of Afghanistan in preparation for the post-NATO-mission period in the country. The EU launched a rule of law mission (EUPOL) under the banner of the European Security and Defense Program (ESDP) in June 2007. The union has also initiated a program for justice reform and is helping to fund civilian projects in NATO-run Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).

Meanwhile, the OIC, a bloc of 56 countries, is also taking a growing interest in the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and in 2010 it accepted a proposal by member states Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to appoint an OIC permanent representative for Afghanistan.

But wait for it.... This wasn't Turkey's idea. It was Obama's.

The US administration has joined the push for greater OIC involvement in Afghanistan for the last couple of years, which would bring benefits in efforts towards reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Huh? Okay, I don't watch Afghanistan too closely, but I thought that the whole point of the US being in Afghanistan was to get rid of the Taliban.

In any event, it appears that the Obama administration is complicit with Israel being excluded from NATO and with the OIC being included in NATO. I guess that's all part of what Hussein Obama calls 'having Israel's back.'

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, European Union, NATO, Organization of Islamic Countries, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish obsession with Israel

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:44 PM