Mon 30 January 2023:
Türkiye may show a different approach to Finland’s NATO bid than Sweden, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.
“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,” Çavuşoğlu told a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho in the capital Ankara.
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“I think it would be fair to distinguish between a problematic country and a less problematic country,” he added.
Çavuşoğlu said his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto and he made an assessment during a phone talk after Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Sunday 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 Feb. 24, 2022.
But Türkiye-a NATO member for more than 70 years-voiced objections, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
Under a memorandum signed last June between Türkiye, Sweden, and Finland, the two Nordic countries, pledged to take steps against terrorists in order to gain membership in the NATO alliance.
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Unanimous agreement from all NATO members, including Türkiye, is needed for any new members to be admitted to the alliance.
Türkiye says the countries, particularly Sweden, need to do more, especially in the wake of a provocative terrorist demonstrations and burning of copies of the holy Quran in Stockholm.
In the deal, Sweden and Finland agreed not to provide support to terrorist groups such as the PKK and its offshoots, and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye, and extradite terror suspects to Türkiye, among other things.
Çavuşoğlu said both the Nordic countries, NATO and some allied countries want the membership process of the two countries to progress together, and which is why the tripartite agreement was signed.
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Talking of Finland, he said positive statements have been made along with practical developments regarding restrictions on exports of defense industry products to Türkiye, but there were no provocations.
“There are radical groups there, too, with different ideologies, apart from the supporters of PKK terrorist organization who want to prevent Finland’s membership,” he said.
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.”
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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 reiterated.
Pointing out that some steps have been taken in Sweden to address Ankara’s concerns, Çavuşoğlu said: “But in concrete terms, unfortunately, there are backsteps due to the provocations of groups that want to prevent Sweden’s NATO membership.”
Sweden is still allowing terrorist groups including the PKK and FETO to recruit people and use legal bank accounts for illegal funding, he said.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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