NATO's expansionism tweet triggers online war

An attempt by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to boast about its expansion backfired after it prompted an online war.

The Brussels-based organisation had posted a tweet on social networking site Twitter comprising the flags of its original members in 1949.

However, the ''how it started vs how it's going'' meme received an unexpected response and triggered a virtual bloodbath.

The replies that ensued the tweet ranged from calls to kick out Turkey and hopes for expansion in Ukraine, Georgia and the Balkans to another warfront between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's military aggression has put the country at odds with NATO and has become its biggest liability.

Also read| Fall of democracy: Turkey's Erdogan openly challenging NATO's values

NATO, which was created in 1949, has 30 members. In the aftermath of the second world war, the purpose was to secure peace in Europe, especially against the Soviet Union. Then the Soviet Union fell and the relevance of NATO came into question.

Turkey joined the organisation in 1952 because there was a synergy of interests. Turkey didn't want to fall under the Soviet influence and its military made key contributions in the fight.

Also read| Turkey under Erdogan: Caught between democracy and dictatorship

However, that is no longer the case. Today, Erdogan is on a collision course with the NATO. It is fighting the allies of NATO itself and that has been visible in Turkey's key activities in the past one year.

In January, Turkey violated a United Nations arms embrago in Libya. Turkish warships escorted a vessel suspected of smuggling weapons into Libya. By June, Turkey was locked in a direct face-off against Greece and France.

Now, Turkey is fueling another conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey is arming Azerbaijan against Armenia.

NATO called for a ceasefire, but Turkey refuses to pay heed to such calls.