Ardan Zentürk, a columnist for the pro-government daily Star, has said Turkey will fight a war with NATO, adding that whoever says they “will not fight” should leave the country now.

Starting with a recent scandal in which Atatürk was portrayed as an enemy on a war chart during a NATO drill in Norway, then adding US aid to Kurdish forces in Syria, a court case against Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab for violating US sanctions against İran and the US refusal to extradite Fethullah Gülen, who the government accuses of masterminding a failed coup in Turkey last summer, Zentürk in his article published in the Star daily today said: “The US is not now administered by Americans who are accountable to the American taxpayer. Low-life people from the neocon/Zionist lobby with deep media connections have launched an operation against our country by turning [President Donald] Trump into a puppet.”

“The ‘emergence of the East’ has started under the Erdoğan-[Russian President Vladimir] Putin agreement. The first achievement of this rise should be the immediate closure of İncirlik Air Base [in Turkey’s Adana province] if the imperialist attack continues,” said Zentürk.

Claiming that a conflict between Turkey and the US is inevitable and that Turkey is at the point of “to be or not to be,” Zentürk said: ” It is clear that we will fight one day. … I recommend that those who say ‘I am not part of this fight, my property and comfort come before my country’ leave the country today.”

Both Islamist and ultranationalist/Eurosianist circles in Turkey have been pushing the idea of closing NATO/US bases in Turkey and leaving the alliance.

The Yeni Şafak daily, a staunch supporter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government, on Sunday said NATO plans to attack Turkey in 2018.

The ultranationalist Aydınlık daily on Sunday called for the closure of NATO bases in Turkey. The newspaper, which is known for its pro-Eurosianist line, on Saturday had called on the Turkish government to leave NATO.

Yalçın Topçu, a key advisor of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Monday said NATO was behind all coups in Turkey, stating that it is time to review membership in the alliance.