It’s still not for Sweden, but Turkey seemed more in favor on Saturday with Finland joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first telephone conversation with his Nordic counterparts since the crisis begins.
The Turkish Head of State threw a stone into the lake by warning, on May 13, that he was opposed to the expansion of the Atlantic Alliance with these two countries, which he accused of being hostel for terrorists of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Mr. also talked. Erdogan to Atlantic Alliance boss Jens Stoltenberg, where he reiterated his concerns.
Until Sweden and Finland clearly demonstrate their solidarity with Turkey on key issues, especially the fight against terrorism, Turkey will not be positive in their membership of theNATOso he warned, according to a statement from the presidency.
Erdogan called for concrete measures against the PKK
Immediately after speaking with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson, the President of Turkey called on Sweden to end its political and financial support and delivery of weapons to terrorist organizations.
More specifically, Mr. Erdogan said expect Sweden to take concrete and serious steps to show that it shares Turkey’s concerns about the terrorist organization PKK and its extensions into Syria and Iraq.
The Turkish President in Stockholm also requested that lifting restrictions on arms exports to Ankara, imposed since October 2019 following military operations conducted by Turkey in northern Syria and Iraq against positions of PKK and its Kurdish allies from YPGsupported by the United States against the Islamic State.
The change of tone, on the other hand, after his exchange with his Finnish counterpart, somewhat later in the afternoon.
According to the Turkish presidency, Mr. just argued. Erdogan Turkey’s natural right to expect respect and support in its legitimate fight against threats to its security and its population.
For his part, on Twitter, President Sauli Niinistö confirmed that Finland has condemned terrorism in all its forms and mentioned an open and direct telephone exchange with President Erdogan.
” I taught that as allies withinNATOFinland and Turkey will be loyal to each other for their security and that their relationship will grow. “
The conversation continueshe insisted.
Si Ms. Anderson, Sweden’s Prime Minister, also accepted on Twitter a first direct exchange with his Turkish counterpart. We hope to strengthen our bilateral relations, including areas of peace, security and counter -terrorism.he wrote.
Turkey has caused a crisis withinNATOof which it was a member, by opposing the extension of the organization to these two countries which applied to join the Alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and which received the support of so many member states.
Finland shares 1300 km of border with Russia.
Ankara accuses them of keeping and supporting members of the PKKwhich it considers terrorist organizations, such as Washington and the European Union.
More specifically, it criticizes Stockholm for repeatedly refusing the extradition of approximately thirty members of the PKK and has repeated many times in recent days its hostility to any concession.
We are determined to maintain our position. We informed our friends that we would be refusing Finland and Sweden, who wanted to joinNATOand we will continue in this wayrepeated the Turkish head of state on Friday.
On Saturday, after his meeting with Mr. Erdogan, the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Mr. Stoltenberg, underlined on Twitter that the security concerns of all allies must be considered. Discussions continue.
The method of augmentationNATO requires the unity of its members.
Source: Radio-Canada