bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers denounced Erdogan’s threat. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) voiced his concern “about any autocratic anti-Israel rhetoric, most especially by the leader of a country that is a NATO ally,” while Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) referred to the outburst as “outrageous and totally unacceptable.”
At the same time, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz demanded Turkey’s “expulsion” from NATO
It has never happened that a NATO member was expelled from the organization by the other member states. It has never even been threatened, not even when NATO members Turkey and Greece found themselves on the brink of war in 1974. Conflicts between NATO countries have always been resolved diplomatically.
The NATO charter also does not describe a procedure by which a member state can be expelled from the organization. Other international organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe, do have such procedures.
NATO has stated that its primary goal is to ensure freedom and security in its member countries. Excluding a member state in the event of a crisis would directly contradict that goal.
NATO can normally only act if all members agree unanimously . All current member states effectively have veto power, allowing them to block decisions on their own.
However, it seems contradictory that any exclusion is a decision that all member states must agree on. This would mean that a country could prevent its own suspension or exclusion by simply voting against it.
In a situation where a country would agree to its own exclusion, it would be much more logical and easier for it to withdraw from NATO itself.
