Turkey threatens to stop Sweden, Finland in NATO talks | News | DW
Delegations from Sweden and Finland were in Ankara on Wednesday to address Turkish objections to their accession to NATO’s military alliance.
Turkey opposes the accession of the Nordic countries and refers to their perceived support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and the US-backed Syrian-Kurdish militia YPG. Ankara claims that such groups are a threat to its security.
The two countries’ applications to join the alliance as a defense against feared aggression from Russia would put an end to decades of military neutrality.
Finland – which shares 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of border with Russia – and its neighbor Sweden have been disturbed by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
What are Turkey’s objections?
Ankara accuses the two countries of giving refuge to the PKK and refusing to extradite terrorists.
Sweden and Finland, among others, also imposed restrictions on arms exports to Turkey following its military offensive against YPG 2019.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by several of Turkey’s allies, including the EU. It has carried out a decades-long uprising against Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has personally expressed deep opposition to giving the green light to enlargement unless there are major concessions.
What was the purpose of the meetings?
The Swedish delegation, led by State Secretary Oscar Stenström, and the Finnish delegation, led by his counterpart Jukka Salovaara, met with Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.
At a press conference after the talks, which lasted about five hours, Kalin said that Turkey had observed a “positive attitude” from both countries when it came to lifting arms export restrictions.
He said, however, that Turkey would not agree to the two Nordic countries joining NATO unless specific measures were 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 told a news conference.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who visited Israel on Wednesday, announced the three-way meeting in advance on Tuesday. He said Turkey would present its demands to lift the veto at that meeting.
After a meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel in Stockholm, the Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson said that her country wanted to “clarify” statements that have floated
around during discussions with Turkey.
“We do not send money or weapons to terrorist organizations,” Andersson said.
rc / rt (AP, AFP)