4 minutes agoTurkey sets conditions for Finland, Sweden if they want NATO support
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that Finland and Sweden should change their laws if necessary, to meet Turkey's requirements and gain its support to join NATO, strengthening the threat to veto a historic expansion of the alliance. On 13 [...]
On 13 May, Turkey rejected the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO by arguing that the two Nordic states were sheltering persons of groups that define them as terrorists, including the Kurdistan Labour Party (PKK), and because they stopped exporting weapons to Turkey in 2019.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In order for them to join the alliance, all 30 member states must give their approval.
Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey, a seven-decade NATO member, would not lift its veto if its demands were not met, underlining also President Tay Erdogan's recent statements.
Ankara wants Sweden and Finland to stop their support of the PKK and other groups, to ban those organised events on their territory, extradite those who are accused by Turkey of terrorism, support Ankara's military operations and lift restrictions on arms exports.
Finland and Sweden seek to find a solution through the negotiations, while other NATO members have said they remain convinced that objections raised by Turkey, which has NATO's second largest army, could be overcome.
Request Documents
Cavusoglu said Turkey had given Finnish and Swedish delegations documents underlining the requirements during talks in Ankara last week and that it was awaiting their response, adding that he expects the allies to work to address security concerns.
Are our requests impossible? No. We want them to stop their support of terrorism”, Cavusoglu told the Turkish state news agency Anadolu, adding that Ankara was aware that some of its demands would require that laws be changed.
They think this way: Because we're too far from the terrorist regions, our laws are made this way. Well, then you have to change them”, he said and added:
“They say it is allowed for terrorist organisations to organise events and wave surrounding flags. Then you must change your laws”.
Nordic states have said they condemn terrorism and are open to dialogue.
Cavusoglu said Secretary General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, was working on the issue and had proposed holding talks in Brussels with all three countries, but stressed that Ankara expects earlier Stockholm and Helsinki to respond to its written requirements.
“There must be concrete things for us to discuss”, he said.
