Former US Army commander on Turkey, Germany and Nato
Retired Lt Gen Ben Hodges tells the 91热爆 that Turkey can be 鈥渕addening鈥� sometimes.
The former commander of US Army Europe, Lt Gen Ben Hodges, has told the 91热爆 that while he loves Turkish culture and history, he finds the country "maddening at times".
The Turkish government has yet to ratify Sweden and Finland's accession to Nato.
The retired US military commander said that with elections coming up next year Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is "going to squeeze everything he can out of this," before they agree to the two countries joining the alliance.
Turkey has asked for Sweden and Finland to handover more than 70 people described by its president as terrorists.
Gen Hodges was stationed in Turkey before moving to Germany where he still lives.
He also told the Hardtalk programme's Stephen Sackur that while the German government was third in terms of supplying military support to Ukraine it was "terrible at explaining what they're doing."
Gen Hodges, who retired in 2018 after 38 years in the US Army, also defended the Nato alliance.
"Nobody's been more successful," than Nato in the history of alliances and coalitions, he said.
Since the interview was recorded Russia has agreed with Turkey to restart its participation in the grain exports deal.
