Türkiye says Finland’s NATO bid may be considered separately from Sweden
ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye may consider Finland’s NATO bid separately from Sweden, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.
“If NATO and these countries (Finland and Sweden) take such a decision, we, as Türkiye, think that we may evaluate the applications separately, but first of all, NATO and these countries have to decide,” Cavusoglu told a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho in Ankara.
“I think it would be fair to distinguish between a problematic country and a less problematic country,” he added.
Cavusoglu said his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto and he made an assessment during a phone talk after Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s earlier remarks on Ankara’s attitude towards Finland’s NATO bid.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO last May, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine, which started on February 24, 2022.
However, Türkiye voiced objections, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting the PKK, which Turkiye considers a “terrorist” group.
Türkiye says the two countries, particularly Sweden, need to do more, especially in the wake of “provocative” demonstrations by Kurdish nationalists and incidents of the desecration of the Quran in Stockholm.
Reiterating Ankara’s commitment to NATO’s enlargement, he said: “We have no problems with Finland and Sweden, and understand their security concern, it is legitimate.”
He said two main threats are mentioned in NATO documents. “One of them is Russia, and we understand that they are worried about it. The other is terrorism and, therefore, Türkiye’s concerns should not only be understood but also met. That’s why we signed the tripartite memorandum,” the top Turkish diplomat said.
Pointing out that some steps have been taken in Sweden to address Ankara’s concerns, Cavusoglu said: “But in concrete terms, unfortunately, there are backsteps due to the provocations of groups that want to prevent Sweden’s NATO membership.”
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