Turkey advocates approving Finland’s NATO bid before Sweden’s
Turkey can give the green light for Finland’s membership in NATO before Sweden’s, if the military alliance and the two Nordic countries agree, the Turkish foreign minister said on Monday.
Mevlut Cavusoglu defined Finland’s application as “less problematic” than Sweden’s. Turkey accuses Stockholm of not taking concrete steps to crack down on groups that Ankara considers terrorists. Has recently been outraged by Koran-burning protests staged outside the Turkish embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen by an anti-Islam activist who holds Swedish and Danish citizenship. “In my opinion, it would be fair to distinguish between the problematic country and the less problematic country,” Cavusoglu told reporters during a joint press conference with his visiting Portuguese counterpart. “We believe that if NATO and these countries make such a decision, we can evaluate (Finland’s bid) separately,” Cavusoglu said.
Sweden and Finland jointly applied to become members of the military alliance and ended their long-standing military non-alignment following Russia’s war against Ukraine.
NATO requires unanimous approval to admit new members. Turkey has delayed the ratification process of the Swedish and Finnish bids in its parliament. Turkey has accused the government in Stockholm of being too lenient toward groups it considers terrorist organizations or existential threats, including Kurdish groups. “Some steps have been taken in Sweden, such as constitutional amendments and legislative amendments,” Cavusoglu said. “Unfortunately, there have been steps back, due to provocations from groups that want to prevent Sweden from joining NATO,” he said.
On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also suggested that Ankara could sign off on Finland’s application in a “shock” to Sweden. He said Turkey had provided a list of 120 people it wants extradited from Sweden, a demand included in a memorandum signed in June that overrode Turkey’s veto of the Nordic nations’ joint application. Turkey is demanding the extradition of alleged PKK militants as well as some supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric blamed for the 2016 coup attempt.
After last week’s protests, Erdogan warned Sweden not to expect support for its membership bid. Turkey also indefinitely postponed a key meeting in Brussels that would have discussed membership for Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s chief negotiator Oscar Stenström told Sveriges Radio early on Sunday that the tripartite talks have been suspended to avoid the situation worsening.
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