Former United States National Security Adviser John Bolton faced harsh criticism on Thursday after calling for NATO to expel Türkiye and extend support to opposition parties in the upcoming elections.
"Bolton, who previously admitted that he supported coups, called on NATO to intervene in the elections in Türkiye. It is a futile effort to try to take the democratic will of the Turkish nation under tutelage," said Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın.
"Gone are the days when you played colonial governor," Kalın wrote on Twitter, citing Bolton's opinion article – titled "NATO’s Electoral Message for (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan" – which was published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
In a tweet sharing the article, Bolton claimed Türkiye was not acting like a NATO member. "Seriously considering their expulsion or suspension will emphasize the stakes of their coming elections, making it harder for Erdoğan to subvert the vote, and give opposition candidates a real chance," he wrote.
Erdoğan on Wednesday indicated that parliamentary and presidential elections could be held on May 14, after he said the date should be brought forward from June 18.
Bolton, who is also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in July last year admitted that he had helped plan attempted coups in foreign countries.
His remarks came amid congressional hearings into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a case where former President Donald Trump has been accused of inciting the violence in a last-ditch bid to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.
Bolton had suggested Trump was not competent enough to pull off a "carefully planned coup d'etat,” later adding, "As somebody who has helped plan coups d'etat – not here but you know (in) other places – it takes a lot of work. And that’s not what he (Trump) did."
Trump abruptly fired Bolton in September 2019 amid disagreements over how to handle foreign policy challenges such as North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Russia.
In 2019, Bolton as national security adviser publicly supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s call for the military to back his effort to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro, arguing that Maduro's re-election was illegitimate. Ultimately Maduro remained in power.
Many foreign policy experts have over the years criticized Washington's history of interventions in other countries, from its role in the 1953 overthrowing of then-Iranian nationalist Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and the Vietnam war, to its invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan this century.
