While the attacks launched by the US and Israel against Iran on 28 February continue, NATO's interceptor ammunition, which reportedly struck a missile fired from Iran, fell in Hatay. Subsequently, a provocative statement was issued by NATO claiming that Iran had carried out an attack on Turkey. These events have brought the question "Is NATO a security shield for Turkey or a mechanism dragging the country into war?" to the forefront. We discussed the answer with SOL Party, TİP, EHP, and TÖP. Labour Party (EMEP) Chair Seyit Aslan also evaluated the issue during a press conference.

EMEP Chair Seyit Aslan held a press conference regarding the attacks by the US and Israel on Iran and their regional-economic consequences. Aslan pointed out that imperialist-Zionist aggression, for the sake of establishing regional and global hegemony, is dragging millions of Iranians and the peoples of the region into war and further poverty.

EMEP: Bases should not be used by the US under any circumstances

Aslan spoke regarding the intent behind the attacks on Iran: "Iran is seen by US monopolies as an open market where energy and mineral resources will be seized, and the labour of workers and labourers will be exploited cheaply with its population of 90 million. One of the regional political and strategic goals of US imperialism is to prepare for a future reckoning by narrowing the commercial spheres of influence of China and Russia. Israel, aiming to be an unrestrained power in the Middle East, wants to remove the obstacles and threats to Zionist expansionism through regime change in Iran."

Touching upon Turkey's position, Aslan stated: "NATO bases in Turkey are being used for intelligence, reconnaissance, etc., in the attack against Iran. This situation indicates that the Palace regime is on the side of the US and Israel. If Turkey becomes an open target, it will be due to the consequences of the Palace regime's imperialist collaborator policies. The use of bases by the US should not be permitted under any circumstances."

SOL Party: Dependency on the US and NATO must end

SOL Party Presidents' Council member Önder İşleyen stated that NATO is a threat, not a guarantee, for Turkey. İşleyen said, "The US is attempting to expand its thuggish war against Iran to a scale involving all countries in the region. The chain of destruction extending from Iraq to Libya, and from Syria to Gaza, is now intended to be widened through Iran."

İşleyen remarked that NATO is not a security umbrella for Turkey, but a direct war mechanism that will pull Turkey into a ring of fire: "The provocation regarding the missile allegedly fired from Iran also clearly demonstrates this. NATO's famous Article 5 is not a shield protecting Turkey; it is a trigger kept ready to pull Turkey into an imperialist war. The bases, acting as a radar base providing intelligence to Israel, serve as a lightning rod drawing the war towards Turkey. Opposition forces must understand that the country's security will be ensured by uniting in a struggle centred on ending dependency on the US and NATO, and the presence of bases that are part of this, against Turkey being dragged into the Great Middle East ring of fire under American guidance."

TİP: Not in the interest of the labourers

Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) Deputy Chairman Doğan Ergün also drew attention to the founding purpose of NATO, saying: "It is essentially a counter-revolutionary organisation aimed at taking away all the gains of the working class and labourers in the world, and providing the hegemony of imperialists within the US framework in a military and paramedical sense."

Ergün pointed out that NATO's priority is to defend the interests of imperialists and imperialist companies holding global energy fields and trade, rather than the security of nations: "From this perspective, we must categorically oppose NATO and not hold any expectations for the security of peoples from it. NATO membership is not in the interest of the labourers in Turkey."

Stating that it is beneficial to view the missiles falling in Hatay and those allegedly fired at Azerbaijan with suspicion, Ergün noted: "All of these are attempts at provocation, or could be provocations. The claims that NATO shot down this fired missile should also be viewed with great doubt." Regarding the NATO summit to be held in Ankara in April, Ergün said: "The world's killers, tyrants, and barbarians are planning to gather in our country; we must stand against this and not accept it. Likewise, the use or facilitation of NATO bases in Turkey, whether through indirect means or for intelligence purposes, makes no difference. We cannot serve the bombing of a neighbouring people directly or indirectly in any way."

EHP: NATO is an apparatus of US imperialism

Labourers' Movement Party (EHP) Chairman Hakan Öztürk addressed the "NATO protects us" rhetoric, saying: "We see what NATO, which considers itself obliged to protect the world and Turkey, or the United States, which tries to take the whole world under control in this way, is making us experience. In that sense, NATO has no such quality."

Stating that NATO is, on the contrary, the primary apparatus of American imperialism, Öztürk said: "Therefore, it is not possible to speak of NATO's goodness. What are the tasks NATO performs? We should speak within the framework of what kind of harm it causes to the world on behalf of US imperialism. We are talking about a war started against Iran in a very unjust manner. We are talking about a genocide happening in slow motion in Gaza. In this respect, one must see what kind of goodness-distributing or peace-bringing aspects NATO has had."

TÖP: Not a security organisation but an instrument of imperialist aggression

TÖP Spokespersons' Council member and DEM Party Mersin MP Perihan Koca stated that NATO is not a security organisation but a Cold War era instrument created to align imperialist aggression with international law. Koca said: "Throughout the long 20th century, it was the strike force of Western aggression and acted not with a security logic but with the Western imperialist logic of plunder. Of course, there were concrete interventions regarding the security of member states, but it is important not to lose sight of NATO's nature. They prefer to protect if it serves the interests of imperialism, and not to protect if it does not."

Stating that they already see NATO's importance for the integrity of the Western bloc has diminished at the point reached today, Koca said: "The transatlantic tension between the US and EU countries is reflected in NATO's existence. At this point, it is already impossible to talk about a NATO that defends the interests of the West as a whole. Consequently, as the interests of member countries diverge, NATO's function as a protective shield has diminished significantly."