Finland, Sweden, Turkey to hold NATO expansion talks
Helsinki, August 20 (IANS): Representatives of Finland, Sweden and Turkey plan to meet this month to discuss expanding NATO northward, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters here.
Discussions in Finland should continue on the basis of the memorandum signed by the three states shortly before the NATO summit in Madrid in June, the dpa Haavisto news agency quoted as saying on Friday.
Prior to that agreement, Turkey had blocked Sweden and Finland’s plans to join the Western military alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had accused the two Scandinavian nations of harboring members of the Syrian YPG Kurdish militia, as well as members of the Gulenist movement.
The YPG is considered to have links to terrorism by some, but is considered by some Western countries to be the most effective fighting force on the ground in Syria against Islamist extremist groups.
Members of the Gulenist network are accused of organizing the failed coup attempt in 2016 that claimed over 300 lives.
In the agreement, Finland and Sweden promised countries including Turkey support against threats to national security.
Deportations must also be facilitated.
In the future, meetings with representatives of the three countries should take place alternately in Finland, Sweden and Turkey, Haavisto said.