“Turkey is waiting for Finland, Sweden to meet expectations”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey still has concrete expectations from Sweden and Finland regarding its concerns about terrorist groups, as the two countries pledged to meet Ankara’s demands to become NATO members.
“We are waiting for answers to our extradition requests and the two countries should not expect Turkey to compromise,” Erdoğan said in a live broadcast on TRT Monday.
He went on to say that the two countries should not expect Turkey to support their NATO membership unless they prevent terrorists from carrying out anti-Turkey activities.
Erdoğan also said that Ankara is also disturbed by the stance shown by Germany, France, Italy and others regarding Ankara’s concerns about terrorism. He noted that the Swedish and Finnish delegations had mentioned that other European countries have a similar stance.
Regarding Turkey’s planned cross-border operation, the president said that Syria has become a nest for terrorist groups and that Russia and Iran must decide where they stand.
“Attack in Duhok carried out by PKK to damage relations between Turkey and Iraq”
The president said the attack in Iraq’s Duhok was carried out by PKK terrorists and was aimed at disrupting relations between Turkey and Iraq.
He noted that Turkey had informed its NATO allies, including the United States, and Iraqi authorities of its position on the attack, adding that he urged Iraq not to fall for propaganda by PKK terrorists.
Turkish officials rejected claims it carried out an attack targeting civilians in Iraq’s Duhok province, saying it was PKK terror propaganda.
The PKK’s propaganda in Iraq comes at a time when Turkey is about to launch a new operation against the terrorist group’s offshoot YPG in northern Syria, across the Turkish border.
Last Wednesday, at least four artillery shells hit the resort town of Barakh in the Zakho district of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), killing at least eight people, officials said. More than 20 other people were injured. All victims were Iraqi citizens. A small child was among the victims.
Iraq’s military said eight people were killed in the attack. Health workers at the Bidar hospital in Dohuk province, which was receiving patients, said nine were killed.
The incident is testing ties between Iraq and Turkey, two countries that share deep economic ties but are divided on security issues related to PKK terrorists operating in Iraq, oil trade with the KRG region and water sharing.
The Iraqi government, which condemned the attack as a “flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”, convened an emergency national security meeting, summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Baghdad and ordered a pause in sending a new Iraqi ambassador to Ankara.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi accused Turkey of ignoring “Iraq’s constant demands to refrain from military violations against Iraqi territory and the lives of its people.”
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey had offered to bring the wounded to Turkey for treatment.
Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes in northern Iraq and has sent commandos to support its operations targeting elements of the outlawed PKK.
High-level talks with Egypt possible
Regarding Turkey-Egypt relations, Erdoğan said there is no reason why high-level talks with Cairo should not take place, as its efforts to mend relations with Cairo remain at a standstill.
“Talks on the lower levels continue. It is not excluded that this happens at higher levels, as long as we understand each other,” the president said, adding that the two countries should avoid making statements that “hurt” the other.
Turkey launched an initiative in 2020 to repair ties with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Erdoğan said on Monday that normalization work with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi was going well.