Turkey issues a list of demands to Finland and Sweden for NATO membership – The Irish Times
Turkey has drawn up a list of nine points with requirements that Finland and Sweden must meet – in full – before the country will drop the threats to veto their NATO applications.
Ankara’s threat has threatened to derail from the Nordic countries’ joint applications, triggered by a dramatic change in public opinion after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he “is not of a positive opinion” about the applications because he claimed that the two countries host Kurdish terrorists.
“NATO is a security organization, not a terrorist organization,” he said in a televised speech on Wednesday. “Turkey can not support Sweden’s NATO bid while its state television broadcasts interviews with terrorist leaders, and the same applies to Finland.”
With broad cross-party support in Turkey for Erdogan’s stance, and NATO enlargement requiring unanimous support, the possibility of finding a compromise ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid on 29 June is diminished.
Turkey says that Sweden has allowed fundraisers and recruitment campaigns for local branches of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU.
Sweden has also provided a political refuge for certain people suspected by Turkish authorities of involvement in the coup attempt in July 2016. One final issue: an arms embargo imposed by Finland and Sweden on Turkey due to its cross-border military operations in Iraq and Syria.
The list of Turkish demands includes “help in the fight” against the PKK and other organizations with new anti-terrorism laws.
Turkey wants Sweden and Finland to ban symbols, freeze all assets and close down all “linked internet sites and media organizations” to organizations that are considered to be of a terrorist nature.
It calls for the extradition of “people linked to terrorism”, more shared intelligence activities and an end to restrictions on the export of defense equipment to Turkey.
“For Sweden and Finland to join NATO,” the document concludes, “these requirements must be met in full.”
Many Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have come out in support of Swedish and Finnish applications since Turkey raised its objections.
Some analysts see Erdoğan’s demands as a calculated megaphone diplomacy to consolidate the support of the sliding public ahead of next year’s elections.
Officials in Stockholm and Helsinki have signaled that it may be possible to provide guarantees for anti-terrorism legislation, while Sweden says it does not see any obstacles to arms exports to Turkey.
More problematic are demands that both governments provide extradition guarantees, which Finland and Sweden may not be able to provide.
“In a constitutional system characterized by a strong division of power, governments can not decide instead of judicial authorities,” said Sinan Ülgen, a former Turkish diplomat and head of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM.
At the same time, Finland has announced plans to change border legislation to allow the construction of barriers on its eastern border with Russia. Most of the common 1,300 km long border opens up, goes through forest and countryside, only marked with signs.