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In this mailing: Burak Bekdil: NATO Should NOT Pay Ransom to Turkey; Instead, Should Amend Rules to Expel It Amir Taheri: Iran: Towards a Summer of Discontent NATO Should NOT Pay Ransom to Turkey; Instead, Should Amend Rules to Expel It by Burak Bekdil  •  June 5, 2022 at 5:00 am       "Turkey is a member of NATO, but under Mr. Erdoğan, it no longer subscribes to the values that underpin this great alliance. Article 13 of the NATO charter provides a mechanism for members to withdraw. Perhaps it is time to amend Article 13 to establish a procedure for the expulsion of a member nation." — Former US Senator Joe Lieberman and Mark D. Wallace, Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2022. "[G]iving in to Ankara's demands amounts to letting an autocrat design the security architecture of Europe and shape the future of the Western system." — Cengiz Çandar, journalist, Al-Monitor, May 24, 2022. With its $8,000 per capita GDP, Erdoğan's ailing Turkey is not more powerful than the other 29 NATO allies combined. NATO's political leaders must stop acting as if it is. In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey's Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (pictured), is threatening to use his country's veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO's renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO's nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Just when, after years of idling around, NATO appears to be gaining some strategic prominence following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the only Muslim member of the alliance is holding 29 other members as hostage, blocking the most critical move in its history. Surrendering to an Islamist's well-known oriental bargaining tactics will mean the demise of the alliance. In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey's Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is threatening to use his country's veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO's renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO's nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Continue Reading Article Iran: Towards a Summer of Discontent by Amir Taheri  •  June 5, 2022 at 4:00 am       The latest protests, however, appear to be different in a number of ways. First, the main theme, although not the immediately acknowledged one, is regime change. So far such a move had been stalled because the regime's many opponents regarded it as their second choice, each being its own first choice. That meant that each group would rather see the present regime remain in place to prevent a rival opposition group from replacing it. Whether the protests continue or where they will end up it is too early to tell. But one thing is clear: something has snapped between the Khomeinist regime and many Iranians, producing a gap that can no longer be bridged with the usual slogans. For the past two weeks in Iran a large number of people, perhaps hundreds of thousands, have been protesting in more than 100 cities to vent their anger against a system that they consider to be corrupt, incompetent and oppressive. The movement was triggered by the collapse of a tall building in Abadan, which claimed dozens of lives. For the first time, some protesters there started chanting "Down with Khamenei", targeting Iran's "Supreme Guide". Pictured: The collapsed building in Abadan, on May 23, 2022. (Photo by Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images) For the past two weeks a large number of Iranians, perhaps hundreds of thousands, have been taking part in protest marches in more than 100 cities across Iran to vent their anger against a system that they consider to be corrupt, incompetent and oppressive. At the same time, the government is facing the threat of massive bread shortages later this year amid reports that wheat stocks have fallen to a record low while talks to purchase from Russia 6.2 million tons of wheat, more than half of Iran's annual consumption, seem to have stalled. Continue Reading Article