Turkey is facing a heavy backlash in the West from its invasion of Syria, and nowhere is that better represented than in a YouGov/DPA survey, which showed 58% of Germans believe Turkey ought to be expelled outright from NATO for the invasion.



Which isn’t to say this is liable to happen, as NATO has no mechanism for even kicking member nations out. This makes doing so all but impossible, because NATO would need to invent a way to kick Turkey out, get Turkey to agree to it as a NATO member, and then use it against them.



The poll also showed even bigger German majorities favoring other measures, with 61% supporting sanctions against Turkey and 69% favoring a complete arms export ban. It’s not clear the Merkel government is contemplating either.



Germany has substantial tension with Turkey on a number of issues, as Erdogan has tried to use Germany’s legal system to silence critics, and has been deeply critical of Germany for not supporting him on foreign policy.



Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz