Ankara expects Sweden, Finland to prevent terrorists — Türkiye’s speaker
Ankara supports NATO membership for both Finland and Sweden, but the Turkish parliament will ultimately make the decision after reviewing whether the two countries have fulfilled their obligations under the memorandum, the parliament’s speaker said.
Turkey expects Finland and Sweden to prevent the YPG/PKK and FETO terrorist groups from operating freely on their soil, the country’s Riksdag speaker has said.
In the Croatian capital Zagreb on Monday, where he came to participate in the first parliamentary summit of the international Crimea platform, Mustafa Sentop met his Swedish counterpart Andreas Norlen and the Finnish Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Antti Rinne.
He praises Finland’s firm commitment to the trilateral memorandum of understanding signed at the NATO summit in Madrid in June, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG/PYD, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group, or the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind a defeated coup in 2016 in Türkiye, Sentop also expressed appreciation for the new Swedish government’s promise that it would pursue a similar policy.
He underlined that Türkiye has been fighting the terrorist PKK for four decades and said that his country had not received enough support in this regard from its NATO allies.
In principle, Türkiye supports both Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership bids, but the Turkish parliament will ultimately make the decision after reviewing whether the two countries have fulfilled their obligations under the memorandum, he said.
“Under the current situation, it is not possible to convince the Turkish public that clauses in the memorandum are being implemented,” he warned.
Sentop also held a separate meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Ruslan Stefanchuk.
He reiterated Ankara’s strong support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity amid its battle with Russia.
Sentop added that Turkey hopes for an immediate end to the conflict through peaceful means that would guarantee Ukraine’s rights and territorial integrity.
NATO’s bid
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.
However, Turkey, which has been a member of NATO for over 70 years, raised objections to the membership bids and criticized the two countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding at the June NATO summit in Madrid, which states that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG/PYD or FETO.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the EU and the US and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG/PYD, which also has a presence in Europe, is openly sanctioned by several governments.
The Nordic countries also agreed to address Ankara’s ongoing request for the deportation or extradition of terrorist suspects.
Turkey’s parliament must ratify the country’s approval for the membership of Finland and Sweden in order for them to join NATO.
Source: AA