23 May, 2017
Turkey's blocking of Austria, which is not a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, in projects for 2017 such as ones for military training, has been continuing for months, another Turkish official confirmed.
A North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit will take place in Brussels on Thursday. Ankara had vetoed a number of Israeli attempts to deepen its partnership with the alliance - such as opening an office at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation headquarters and participating in the activities of the Mediterranean Dialogue group - on the grounds that it should first bear the consequences of its unlawful action against Turkish citizens in the Mavi Marmara massacre.
"Under the proposed reform, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation activities with our partners will be planned on an individual basis, rather than collectively", said the official who asked not to be named. Besides the U.S. and United Kingdom only Poland, Greece and Estonia now meet that target.
Press reports in Vienna cited Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil as saying Turkey's block was putting "Europe's security interests in danger".
"I strongly condemn Turkey's course of action in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation".
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Austria for frosty relations with the European Union, amid tensions over illegal immigration via Turkey and his huge crackdown on political opponents.
Austria is one of the main contributors to the Kosovo security mission.
Though Austria is not a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, the two "actively cooperate in peace support operations", according to the military alliance. "We hope the bilateral issues between Austria and Turkey will be solved as quickly as possible", he told the BBC.
German news website Die Welt says North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is now considering reforming those partnerships, so that each nation signs an individual agreement with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation that could get around the Austria deadlock.
"This will substantially reduce the risk of blockages to cooperation with partners across the board", he said.
He has also lashed out at Germany, prompting Berlin to reconsider its air force deployment at Turkey's Incirlik airbase.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has spoken out against President Erdogan's purge of public servants suspected of backing last July's failed coup.
