Now that we have a brand new member of NATO (Finland), perhaps it’s time to take a fresh look at dropping somebody else off the roster. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a call for an alliance with Iran in “pan-Islamic solidarity” against Israel.  It’s being reported that Erdogan placed a call to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi where they discussed standing together against Israel in response to Israel’s strikes against Palestinian targets following recent attacks by Hamas. They are particularly upset about two raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where Israeli police beat and injured Muslims. That was obviously a sensitive target to hit, but that’s still no reason for a NATO member to join forces with the Axis of Evil. (Washington Examiner)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for pan-Islamic solidarity “against Israel’s increasing inhumane attacks in Palestine” in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

“The call addressed the Turkiye-Iran relations and regional developments, including the Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque,” a Turkish presidential office announced. “President [Erdogan] highlighted the importance of the unity of the Islamic world against Israel’s increasing inhumane attacks in Palestine, especially on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Spokesmen for the Turkish government are insisting that any violence against Palestinians during Ramadan is “unacceptable.” But they apparently don’t have a problem with Hamas firing rockets into Israel during Passover. The double standards on display here are glaring.

I’ve been covering Erdogan’s antics for quite a few years now and he’s rarely been more than a dubious ally to the United States and the rest of NATO on the best of days. He kept American pastor Andrew Brunson hostage for years, eventually forcing a prisoner swap to get him out of Erdogan’s dungeons. He has also been playing footsie with Russia, going so far as to purchase Russian missile systems in defiance of NATO requirements. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Erdogan has been talking about playing the role of peacemaker but he’s clearly more sympathetic to the Kremlin than to Kyiv.

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to leave NATO and did so as recently as 2020. Just as I said at the time, perhaps we need to take them up on their offer. Turkey derives many economic and trade benefits from being a NATO member, but Erdogan clearly feels more comfortable hanging out with Russia and Iran. Turkey allows the United States military to use some of its air bases, which is strategically important, but beyond that? They don’t deliver very much for the rest of the alliance.

It’s bad enough that we have the Biden administration alienating Israel, just the latest of our allies that he’s offended. But now Isreal is being openly confronted by a country that is allegedly on our side. They’ve got to be feeling pretty isolated at this point. And if Iran is starting to suspect that the United States will no longer offer its protection and cooperation to Israel, they might feel emboldened enough to attack. How much worse can the foreign policy situation get under Joe Biden’s leadership? It’s hard to escape the feeling that the era of American global leadership and supremacy is coming to a close.