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A videograb shows Erdogan tapping Boris on shoulder in Madrid.

Gulf Today Report

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeting his British counterpart Boris Johnson a little awkwardly at the Nato summit in Madrid earlier this week has become a social media sensation.

The video showed the UK prime minister sitting at a table, Turkey's president can be seen sneaking up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder.

Boris appeared a bit taken aback by Erdogan's greeting.

He even attempts to remove the hand from his back before saying, Hello My distinguished friend

Media reports suggest Boris appeared to have been caught off-guard by Erdogan at the summit.

The awkward greetings have become an instant meme.

Social media users said that Erdogan's move represented, "Alpha behavior."

Boris turns and says hello to Erdogan.

A TTwitter user wrote, "Trkye Erdogan showing Boris who wears the pants in the house..."

"Big boss enters the room" another user wrote.

Another wrote on Facebook, Erdogan was "bullying" the British PM, commenting on the video, "Turkeys president chooses his next victim.

On the political front, Erdogan told Sweden and Finland that he could still block their drives to join Nato if they fail to implement a new accession deal with Ankara.

Erdogan issued his blunt warning at the end of a Nato summit at which the US-led alliance formally invited the Nordic countries to join the 30-nation bloc.

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VIDEO: Erdogan taps Boris on shoulder at Nato summit, and the internet loves it - Gulf Today

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson gives a news conference during a visit to the U.S. Capitol with Finland's President Sauli Niinisto for meetings about their countries' applications to join the NATO alliance, in Washington, U.S. May 19, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis

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May 21 (Reuters) - Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Saturday he had held "open and direct" talks with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Finland's bid for NATO membership.

Erdogan has publicly questioned whether Finland and Sweden should be allowed to join the military alliance.

"I stated that as NATO allies Finland and Turkey will commit to each other's security and our relationship will thus grow stronger," Niinisto tweeted after the call.

"Finland condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Close dialogue continues."

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Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Finland's president held "open and direct" talks with Turkey's Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen during a NATO summit at the Alliances HQ in Brussels last year. [Reuters]

Turkey will take all necessary steps to protect our rights in the Mediterranean and Aegean, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Monday.

With our four drilling rigs and our two seismic vessels, we are determined to continue our activities in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, without any interruption, Erdogan said, speaking at the conclusion of a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

His comments come a day before a NATO summit in Madrid, where Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to respond decisively if Erdogan raises issues with Greece.

Erdogan also said he will do whatever is necessary for our countrys rights and interests at the summit.

He would provide documents and visuals on terror groups, including Kurdish militant groups and the network of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen blamed for a 2016 attempted coup in Turkey, to show his counterparts the hypocrisy on terror.

Ankara has objected to Swedens and Finlands bids to join NATO, citing what it considers to be a lax approach to groups Turkey deems national security threats, including the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and its Syrian extension.

Turkey has demanded the two Nordic countries extradite wanted individuals and lift arms restrictions imposed after Turkeys 2019 military incursion into northeast Syria.

We will tell them clearly that it is not possible to expect a different attitude from Turkey unless this picture changes, he said. [Reuters, Ekathimerini]

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Erdogan vows to protect rights in Mediterranean and Aegean - Kathimerini English Edition

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JERUSALEM, Israel President Bidens appearance at the NATO summit in Madrid on Tuesday presents the most serious test for his administrations effort to repair a fractured military alliance and roll back Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The United States government is widely viewed as the lead partner of the worlds most powerful military body the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Marshall Billingslea, a former NATO Assistant Secretary General, told Fox News Digital,"This NATO Summit is a crucial test for Bidens leadership. First, and most importantly, he must clear the way for Finnish and Swedish membership by brokering a deal with Turkey. Second, he has to get countries to deliver significant additional heavy weapons to Ukraine, particularly Germany, who has largely paid only lip-service to military aid."

BIDEN ATTENDING G7, NATO SUMMITS AMID THE MOST SERIOUS SECURITY SITUATION IN DECADES

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference prior to a NATO summit in Brussels, Monday, June 27, 2022. NATO heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Madrid beginning on Tuesday, June 28. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

Billingslea,a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute,continued:"Third, he needs to move the alliance from its reactive posture into one which will have forces permanently based in the Baltics. Whether he can deliver on any of these is an open question. A final one he needs to help answer with his NATO counterparts is how tough the new Strategic Concept will be with respect to Communist China?"

The major powers in continental Europe Germany and France have faced withering criticism for their sluggish response to the Russian invasion and their failure to rapidly send large shipments of heavy weapons to aid Ukrainian forces. Making matters more complicated, Turkey, a NATO member, is refusing to sanction Russia and blocking Finland and Sweden from securing membership in the Western alliance.

"Many different actors are watching Bidens foreign policy agenda for signs of weakness," Theodore Karasik, a fellow forRussian and Middle Eastern affairsat the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, told Fox News Digital.

TURKEY'S ISLAMIST LEADER USING NATO TO GET FREE HAND AND PUNISH US ALLIES

"Russia is still uncoiling in Ukraine and on other continents. The test is now about NATOs security architecture for the next 20 years. The pace and scope of NATOs armament growth as a result of Russias invasion of Ukraine are going to be key for what happens next in Eurasia," Karasik said.

President Biden goes to the NATO summit in Madrid faced with several pressing issues, first and foremost being Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool via AP)

The stakes are enormously high for Biden because Finland and Sweden are vulnerable to Russian invasion and Moscow is gaining steam in its efforts to conquer more Ukrainian territory.

Karasik added: "President Biden needs to secure Turkeys active participation in NATO and to stop the country from acting as an adjunct to the security organization. A face-to-face meeting between the two leaders [Biden and PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan] is necessary. While understanding Turkeys complaints from Ankaras point of view, Moscows actions concerning the Donbas and the impact on global food and grain supplies warrant greater public unity about what exactly Ankara is seeking in this breadbasket. Russia will keep grinding along if they see these differences of opinion continue especially after the NATO summit."

UKRAINE MILITARY SUPPORT INCOMING WITH NATO BOOSTING RAPID REACTION FORCE

Ahead of the June 28-30 Madrid summit, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he expects alliance membersto make clear they consider Russia "the most significant and direct threat to our security.Heannounced that NATO will increase the strength of its rapid reaction force nearly eightfold to 300,000 troops as part of its response to an "era of strategic competition."

The NATO rapid reaction force currently numbers around 40,000 soldiers who can deploy quickly when needed.

The expansion is part of the "biggest overhaul of collective defense and deterrence since the Cold War," Stoltenberg said.

"These troops will exercise together with home defense forces," he said. "And they will become familiar with local terrain, facilities, and our new prepositioned stocks, so that they can respond smoothly and swiftly to any emergency."

Stoltenberg said the allies will agree to deliver further military support to Ukraine, with NATO members set to adopt a "strengthened comprehensive assistance package" including deliveries of secure communication and anti-drone systems.

NATO LOOKS TO GERMANY FOR PLAN TO BEEF UP DEFENSES IN EUROPES EASTERN FLANK

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during their meeting in the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Vladimir Astapkovich, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking on Monday'sFox & Friends said there is a need to "end the war in Ukraine."

Russian President Vladimir Putin"sent a very clear message about his respect for Biden and our team by launching missiles into western Ukraine, intoKyivyesterday," Pompeo said.

The U.S. should provide "targeting capabilities, intelligence and unmanned aerial systems" to Ukraine, the former top diplomat for the Trump administration said.

"The longer we hold back, the longer thisgoes on, the more Ukrainianlives that are lost, the worse it will be here for us here at home in America. We can see the impact of this war in Europe and the instability there,"Pompeo said.

The dangers posed by theChinese Communist Partywill also be a topic at the NATO summit.

John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Councils coordinator for strategic communications, recently said, "I think its a reflection of our allies equal concerns over the effect of Chinese economic practices, use of forced labor, intellectual theft, and coercive aggressive behavior not just in the region but elsewhere around the world. That they believe its important to factor China into the new strategic concept."

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Amanda Rothschild, a senior policy director for theVandenberg Coalition and former Senior National Security Speechwriter for President Trump, told Fox News Digital,"Advocating for improved NATO defensive capabilities and burden sharing does not undermine the NATO alliance. It strengthens it. The Trump administration encouraged NATO allies to urgently improve military capabilities and readiness to address a range of current national security threats, including those from Russia. "

She added: "As a result, the number of NATO members meeting their obligation to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense more than doubled, and NATO allies committed to a $400 billion increase in defense spending by 2024. These commitments are a necessary but not sufficient step. Allies must continue to invest in their defensive capabilities, consistent with Article 3 of the NATO treaty."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Benjamin Weinthalreports on Middle East affairs. You can follow Benjamin Weinthal on Twitter @BenWeinthal.

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NATO summit will test Biden's resolve to defeat Putin and pressure Erdogan - Fox News

S Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, still hoping for diplomacy, wont go on the offensive against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO meeting in Madrid unless pushed too far and has Greeces military on alert just in case.

Erdogan isnt talking to Mitsotakis, upset that the Greek leader urged the US Congress, in an address there, to reject President Joe Bidens plan to sell Turkey more F-16s that could be used against Greece in a conflict.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been tilting in Turkeys favor in the tension between the countries and refused to intervene over Turkish fighter jets violating Greek airspace, leaving Mitsotakis on his own.

Mitsotakis will take to the Madred meeting June 29-30 the backing on paper of the European Council which urged Turkey to stop making threats against Greece, the kind of language and approach Erdogan has just ignored.

But if Erdogan goes too far at the meeting and demands again that Greece take troops off islands near Turkeys coast, citing the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne which Turkey doesnt recognize, the Greek leader is ready to come out swinging, said Kathimerini, saying that he will only respond if provoked.

Turkey has been provoking for months but Mitsotakis said that was Erdogan trying to get him to take the bait and bite back, which could escalate tensions to near-conflict level, which Greece is trying to avoid.

Mitsotakis told close associates he does not intend to turn the meeting into a forum for confrontation with Erdogan but after saying he would defend Greeces sovereignty said that, nothing is going to remain unanswered.

READY, STEADY, FIRE

He added, however, that responses would be proportionate and that Greece will rely on the international rule of law, which Turkey doesnt recognize unless invoking to its advantage.

Greece is readying, the paper said, for two likely scenarios, one in which Erdogan will veto hopes of Finland and Sweden to join NATO unless Greece demilitarizes islands, which would leave them open to being seized by Turkey in a conflict.

Mitsotakis would, the report said, reject that out of hand and leave the meeting in a gridlock, and Greece also believing Erdogan would use the same premise to push Turkish energy exploration off Greek islands and claim Greece supports terrorist organizations the reason the Turkish leader said hell block Finland and Sweden.

Turkeys Foreign Ministry said that its completely shameful that the EU remains silent on illegal actions of Greece that violate international law, without mentioning Turkey doesnt accept the law.

After EU leaders supported Greece, the Turkish ministry said that the blocs leaders were demonstrating a biased, visionless and distanced attitude towards Turkey, which it said was proof that the EU once again has failed to escape the vicious circle regarding the country.

The statement said the EU was remaining silent on what it described as Greeces illegal actions in violation of international law, including its claim for 10 nautical miles of airspace, the militarization of the islands and pushback practices, demanding the EU stop supporting Greece, an EU member.

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Mitsotakis Won't Confront Erdogan at NATO Meeting But Ready - The National Herald