Finland lifts Turkey’s arms export embargo, is one step closer to NATO
ANKARA – On Wednesday, Finland lifted a nearly three-year-long ban arms export ban Turkey with a new measure aimed at facilitating Helsinki’s accession to NATO, while neighboring Sweden’s bid appears to be more complicated as its relations with Ankara tighten.
Finland will restart the export of steel to Turkey, which is used for the production of defense armor, the Ministry of Defense announced in its press release.
The move is a reversal of the 2019 decision, when Finland stopped granting military export permits to Turkey in retaliation for Turkey’s military operation against Syrian Kurdish groups allied with the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State.
Defense Minister Savola has decided to grant an export license for protective steel used to protect vehicles to Turkey. The license is granted by the Minister of Defense and the matter has not been discussed among the government. 1/2
– Li Andersson (@liandersson) January 25, 2023
Finland Hufvudstadsbladet the newspaper reported on Wednesday that the Finnish steel producer Miilux will supply the Turkish military vehicle company BMC with 12,000 tons of protective material until 2025.
Finland’s decision coincided with Ankara hitting Sweden on Saturday over Stockholm’s permission to burn the Koran. After a nearly four-hour meeting in Ankara led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, the National Security Council (MGK) strongly condemned the demonstration and blamed the Swedish government for complicity.
“Those who encourage and remain promising in these actions have become partners in this hate crime that violated human rights,” reads the MGK statement.
“It is imperative that they fulfill their obligations under the Memorandum of Understanding on Combating Terrorist Organizations with concrete actions as soon as possible,” it added, referring to the Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey, Sweden and Finland. June NATO summit, which paves the way for official invitations to Stockholm and Helsinki.
Finland and Sweden abandoned their historic policy of neutrality and last February announced their formal applications to join NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey has held back expansion due to its security concerns, although Stockholm and Helsinki promised to address them last June.
MGK’s invitation is mainly aimed at Sweden, as Ankara has already announced that it will ratify Finland’s accession. Helsinki had previously announced that it would not join NATO without Sweden standing in solidarity with its western neighbor. However, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Monday that his country will have to reassess its position if Turkey blocks Sweden’s accession for a long time.
MGK’s statement came after Ankara canceled the tripartite NATO negotiations which were supposed to be held in Brussels in February due to Turkey’s growing hatred of Sweden. No new date has been set. The cancellation followed a protest by far-right political leader Rasmus Paludan, who burned a copy Islamic holy book near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on Saturday.
In a rare foreign policy outburst since he began his campaign for May 14 elections, Erdogan said Monday that Sweden would not receive Turkey’s support for NATO.
The most difficult issue between Ankara and Stockholm remains Turkey’s demand for the extradition of around 100 people because of their alleged ties to terrorist groups. Ankara’s requests also include restrictions on the activities of groups and individuals Ankara considers terrorists and freezing of assets against these groups.
The alliance’s expansion awaits the nods of Turkey and Hungary, although Budapest is expected to ratify it next month. The expansion requires the legislative approval of all 30 NATO member countries.