In fact, Turkey is changing. We see rather aggressive actions destabilizing the region. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said this in an interview with the Lithuanian Delfi periodical.
The reporters asked: But what do you think about Turkey? Erdogan openly threatens Europe, urges the Turks to have multiple children so that they become the “future of Europe”; his army attacks Kurds, the allies of other NATO countries; Turkey is subjected to Islamization, it rapidly moves away from the values that NATO was founded to preserve for. Does the West go along with “this” Turkey - bearing in mind Russia’s value-alienation from the West?
In response the Lithuanian President said as follows: “In fact, Turkey is changing. We see rather aggressive actions destabilizing the region. And in this regard, the question is whether the West will achieve any positive result by moving away from Turkey or taking any decision on it or its NATO membership? The question is, will this bring more peace to the region and to the world in general?
However, Turkey's role in the region, both in terms of refugees and in terms of military strength, remains crucial. And perhaps at this point it is necessary to openly refer to the problems that Turkey is raising, but at the same time to monitor the situation and draw conclusions as to what could happen in the future without taking any radical decisions. Because the role of Turkey remains very important due to the circumstances that I’ve mentioned.”
The Lithuanian President also referred to Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide. Asked if he can imagine a situation, where a state that does not recognize Holocaust is a NATO member, Nauseda responded as follows: “No, I can’t. But, nevertheless, on this issue [the recognition of Armenian genocide] I still think that it is a matter of time and one day it will happen. Maybe it won’t happen very soon. However, it is difficult to expect this to happen in the next five or ten years. But I think, that as it is a fact, one way or another it will be recognized.”
