re: How has Turkeys invasion of Iraq not made the news?

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These are wire stories no one picked up on.

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The sad thing here is that Turkey cannot be realistically kicked out of NATO, because that would mean essentially giving control of Bosphorus to Russia. Turkish governments past and present know this and abuse it. They even made the refugee deal into a similar leverage against the EU. Now they are diplomatically untouchable and we are seeing the results.

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. . .
But even if there was consensus inside NATO about kicking Turkey out, the 70-year-old military alliance faces this key obstacle: no mechanism exists in NATO’s founding charter for revoking a state’s membership.

While Article 13 in NATO’s Washington Treaty offers a way for a county to quit, the charter is silent on how to force out a member state that has fallen out of favor.
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Should NATO ever decide to remove a member, it would have to amend its treaty. And that would mean getting unanimous support from all members, including Turkey.

During the course of NATO’s history, members have fallen out of favor numerous times and debates have swirled about how to deal with a recalcitrant ally.

In 1974, allied leaders discreetly debated suspending Portugal’s membership in NATO following a leftist coup, Benitez said.

Instead, the Portuguese were quietly sanctioned and excluded from most NATO activities during 1974-1975.

“The historical record is that NATO deals with these problems by privately sanctioning the member violating alliance values, but does not officially terminate their membership,” Benitez said.

Ultimately, NATO leaders wait out the misbehaving national leaders until a government consistent with alliance values eventually returns to power, he said.

“It is important to note, that in these cases NATO members act more strongly outside of the alliance, through their bilateral relationships with the offending government,” Benitez said.

For example, the U.S. Congress cut off military aid to Turkey after it intervened in Cyprus in the 1970s. Turkey responded by cutting off American access to military bases in the country.

A current example would be Norway, which on Thursday announced it will block exports of military equipment to Turkey.

Inside NATO, there are other steps allies can take to punish a member, such as withholding information and excluding them from alliance meetings, Benitez said.
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