Sweden and Finnish delegations go to Turkey for talks/Channel 24 Collage
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO. At the same time, Turkey has certain questions about this and opposed it.
Now the delegations from Sweden and Finland are to come to Turkey to discuss all issues related to their accession to NATO. This was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
What is known about the meeting
The delegations are expected to meet on 25 May. According to Cavusoglu, the representatives of Finland and Sweden will meet with the representative of the President of Turkey, Ibrahim Kalin. They will also meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto also confirmed the meeting with Turkish representatives.
At present, applications from Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance are being considered by 30 members of the military association. The Turkish President said that he would veto the accession of these two countries.
Erdogan's statements and position
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO, said that he would not agree to this. He explained his decision by the fact that these two states imposed sanctions against Turkey. Erdogan also accused candidates for NATO membership who allegedly support and cover for terrorists. We are talking about the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is considered as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the US and the EU.
- Then Recep Erdogan called certain conditions for him to change his mind. The Turkish President called on Sweden to reconsider its attitude towards terrorist organizations. He also said that the embargo on arms exports imposed on Turkey after the invasion of Syria in 2019 should be lifted by Sweden. Only then, perhaps, will he not prevent Sweden from joining NATO.
- Subsequently, Turkey has already officially published its requirements for Sweden. If they are not fulfilled, they will not change their opinion about joining. The country is demanding from the Swedish authorities that they stop politically supporting the PKK and RFG. They assure that Sweden “accepts at the ministerial level members of terrorist organizations that Turkey is fighting against and supports their activities inside the country.” Turkey also demands to stop funding the activities of the PKK.
