Over the past year, we have all witnessed an interesting spectacle: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to veto Finnish and Swedish NATO membership. The Western reaction was surprisingly brief. Once again, Erdogan is playing a game he has mastered during his continuous rule for two decades, writes Enes Kanter in an article for the Times.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought Erdogan significant opportunities because Turkey is virtually the only country with leverage on either side of the trench. Of course, he could not stop the war. But Erdogan used the situation to promote his personality in Turkey and beyond. Given Turkey's serious economic problems, which recently escalated into a full-blown crisis, this mediating role was the only salvation for the aging leader.

A great Machiavelli supporter, Erdoğan wanted to use his potential position to buy himself legitimacy in the West and convince it that his strategic value outweighed his many violations of democratic principles. So far, this has paid off. The West has ignored the fact that Turkey was the only NATO member not to join the sanctions against Russia. In addition, a number of Western leaders, including the UN secretary general, have paid official visits to Turkey, reinforcing Erdogan's international credibility.

"It´s a deep frustration for me. I had to witness how my beautiful country Turkey, once on the path to becoming a strong democracy with a bright future, was not able to show enough resilience. It only needed one manipulator like Erdogan to make the whole country stray from the democratic path. Erdogan has become an authoritarian leader who reversed, step by step, almost every single democratization advance that happened under his early time of rule—why? To stay in power," the author noted.

Democracy is obsolete in Erdogan's eyes. But why is democracy obsolete for them as well? Why are they comfortable with their basic rights being violated by those who took an oath to protect them? How can they be so indifferent to the massive and systematic human rights violations directed against political dissidents, especially Kurds and members of the Gulen movement? Crimes against humanity are being committed every day, and they simply remain silent or, worse, support them.

And, of course, there is frustration with the West. The West has not exposed his bluff all these years. It has not found the means to really put the brakes on Erdogan. It begs the question, maybe he doesn't want to stop him.

There hasn't been a single argument over the years in which the U.S., EU or NATO have exposed Erdogan's bluff. Domestically, they are even helping Erdogan. If he opposes the U.S. and Europe, his supporters approve. Turkey's president has mastered the art of polarization like few others.

And the difference in meaning is stark. NATO stands for the promotion of democratic values, allowing members to consult and cooperate on defense, security issues and conflict prevention. Militarily, NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to conduct crisis management operations.

These are NATO's most fundamental values, but autocrat Erdogan ignores them. In the midst of NATO's biggest crisis in Russia, Erdoğan has continued to develop a deeper relationship with Putin that runs counter to NATO's interests and perhaps even plays the role of a Trojan horse within NATO. 

And above all, he is manipulating the membership process of Sweden and Finland, which are ranked 3rd and 6th in the Economist Democracy Index, on the grounds that they harbor "terrorists," which is ridiculous. However, even I am a terrorist to Erdogan. It's ridiculous and incomprehensible, call it what you will: it was the bitter truth for the millions of Turks who faced nearly 2 million investigations into "terrorism" under Erdogan's regime.

A NATO member who is close to the abyss in any assessment of human rights and democracy is preventing two of the world's most democratic countries from getting the protection they deserve.

Erdogan wants to reinforce the impression that he is a global player capable of manipulating the West. 

The West must not allow Erdogan to use them in his political games. The time has come for the people of Turkey, who stand for democracy and human rights, to get the support they deserve from the West.

The question is, will the West support the Turkish people and promote democracy in Turkey?