Turkey, Finland and Sweden are discussing security issues to continue meeting through the fall
Officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden agreed on Friday to continue meeting in the coming months to discuss security concerns that Turkey raised as a condition for the two Nordic countries to join the NATO military alliance.
The authorities of the three countries held their first meeting on Friday in Vantaa, southern Finland.
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that the goal of the meeting was to create connections and set cooperation goals, which the countries agreed upon by signing a memorandum of understanding at the NATO summit in Madrid in June.
“The participants discussed concrete steps in the implementation of the tripartite memorandum and agreed that the mechanism will continue to meet at the expert level during the fall,” the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said after the meeting.
Both Nordic countries applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but faced opposition from Turkey, which accused them of imposing arms embargoes on Ankara and supporting groups it considers terrorists.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said the two sides have agreed to step up cooperation and fight terrorism.
“Finland and Sweden show full solidarity and cooperation with Turkey in the fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism… [and] they reiterated their commitment not to support these organizations,” it said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has demanded Sweden and Finland to extradite suspects from Turkey on terrorism-related charges, while the Nordic countries have not agreed to special extraditions.
Finland’s Foreign Ministry had been tight-lipped about Friday’s meeting, refusing to say where or when it would take place, but later said it was held in Vantaa, near the capital Helsinki.