Turkey makes demands on Sweden, Finland
After talks with Swedish and Finnish officials, a senior Turkish official has insisted that Turkey will not agree to the two Nordic countries joining NATO unless specific measures are taken to address Ankara’s objections.
“We have made it very clear that if Turkey’s security problems are not addressed with concrete steps within a certain time frame, the process will not move forward,” Ibrahim Kalin said after Wednesday’s talks in Ankara, which lasted about five hours.
Kalin is a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a senior presidential assistant.
Turkey has said it opposes its membership of NATO, citing complaints about its perceived support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and other entities that Turkey sees as a security threat.
Kalin said that Turkey’s proposal that the two countries should lift the borders for arms exports was met by a “positive attitude” by the Swedish and Finnish delegations.
He added that talks would continue once the Nordic governments had responded to Turkey’s demands.
Turkey also expects the extradition of 28 “terrorism” suspects from Sweden and 12 from Finland, Kalin said.
___ Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a 10% increase in the minimum wage and pensions in the coming weeks, a step that will come when the Russian economy is facing an unprecedented wave of international sanctions.
Putin said at a government meeting that the minimum cost of living will increase by 10% from June 1, and the minimum wage and state pensions will increase by 10% from July 1. The rise will raise the minimum wage to about $ 250 a month and the average pension to $ 320, according to the Interfax news agency.
“Our most important and unchanging priority is to increase the well-being and quality of life of our citizens,” Putin said.
He also instructed government officials to increase the salaries of Russian soldiers serving abroad when the Russian military operation in Ukraine enters its fourth month.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)