Turkey today welcomes the Swedish and Finnish Foreign Ministers with a ready list of counter-terrorism demands. The two Scandinavian countries are candidates for NATO, but the Ankara government is using its veto power in the military alliance to continue arms negotiations, allegedly to fight terrorism.
Last week, the Turkish president warned representatives from Sweden and Finland not to waste time traveling to Ankara. But since then, Tayyip Erdogan’s visibility on the international scene has increased, with his determined opposition to accepting the Scandinavian countries into NATO rather than choosing a prudent diplomatic process to disclose his reservations to new candidates.
In addition, the Stockholm and Helsinki governments made statements and even made phone calls to Turkish authorities seeking to quell anger ahead of Wednesday’s visit. The Finnish delegation will be headed by Jukka Salovaara, Permanent Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Swedish authorities will be headed by Foreign Minister Oscar Stenstrom.
According to NATO rules, the measures must be unanimously approved by 30 member states. The Turkish president said he would vote “no” for Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance, of which Turkey is also a part, for security reasons.
Citing the Kurdish separatist party PKK, he accuses the two Scandinavian countries of harboring terrorist organizations. From the 1980s Sweden and Finland received Kurdish political refugees.
Helsinki and Stockholm claim to have the same intentions against terrorism as the Turkish president. But Erdogan now wants written assurances in a signed agreement, not just intentions expressed in diplomatic talks.
PKK is not the only reason for veto
The Ankara government often blames external threats in the name of internal security. The demands in the local press were as follows: to cut financial support to the Kurdish armed group, to stop the PKK conferences in the Swedish and Finnish parliaments, and to extradite the members of the Kurdish organization. Finally, evidence that Sweden and Finland do not support activities contrary to Turkey’s stability, which for the Ankara government would be incompatible with being a NATO ally.
Internally, this national cohesion speech is aimed at boosting Erdogan’s waning popularity.
But Turkey expects more. It wants the return of arms exports, which were blocked in 2019 due to the conflict with the West in Syria. At that time, Sweden supported the armed wing of the PKK to fight against ISIS with the support of the USA. This led Turkey to tighten ties with the Washington government in the region and summoned its ambassador to Sweden early last year.
Turkey has been excluded from the US F-35 fighter jet program. Thus, the end of the military embargo, as well as the conclusion of new agreements for the purchase of weapons, are considered.
Arms trade with Britain resumed
Britain lifted its arms suspension against Turkey at the end of last week. The Turkish president met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which strengthens the international defense partnership between the two countries.
The Ankara government does not only want to buy weapons again from the USA and European countries, but also wants to expand the export of its own weapons. For example, Saudi Arabia would be interested in purchasing drones of the same model that Turkey sent to Ukraine. The Turkish manufacturer is currently exporting to 20 countries.
As regards other Middle Eastern countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Israel after years, Erdogan has recently launched a reconciliation effort. Because it is part of the Turkish president’s strategy to stop bargaining publicly and privately. Due to its strategic position, it can force its allies to retreat, ensuring that its internal and external excesses are ignored.
Its location in the south of Russia, with access to the Black Sea, sharing long Mediterranean coasts and borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran: its location has contributed to Turkey’s influence in NATO, which by all indications will remain strong.
source: Noticias
