Shortly after Finland and Sweden submitted their North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership application, Turkey blocked the procedural vote to open accession talks, a potentially major hurdle in a process that requires the unanimous approval of all 30 members.
NATO officials quoted Turkey as saying it wants to resolve certain issues about Finland and Sweden’s alliance membership. To this end, it provided a list of grievances to NATO ambassadors discussing Finland and Sweden’s affiliation with Kurdish groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian People’s Defense Units (YPG), which Turkey considers to be terrorist organisations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoğanAddressing the parliament in Ankara, T said, “We are one of the countries that give the most support to the activities of the alliance, but this does not mean that we will unquestioningly say ‘yes’ to every proposal brought before us,” adding, “the expansion of NATO is meaningful for us, in proportion to the respect that is shown to our sensitivities.”
US national security advisor Sullivan on Turkey’s objection to NATO enlargement;
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 18, 2022
“Turkey’s concerns can be addressed. Finland and Sweden are working directly with Turkey...but we're also talking to the Turks to try to help facilitate."
In a veiled reference to members of the PKK, Erdoğan highlighted Sweden’s reluctance to extradite 30 terrorists, saying, “They said, ‘We won’t give them.’ You will not hand over terrorists to us, but you will ask us to get up and join NATO. NATO is a security formation, a security organization, so we cannot say ‘yes’ to depriving this security organization of security.”
Likewise, another Turkish official, while speaking to the Financial Times, said the country isn’t opposed to Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership and hopes to reach an agreement soon. “The sooner we can reach an agreement, the sooner the membership discussions can start,” said the official.
He noted, “We’re not saying they can’t be Nato members,” the official said. “Just that we need to be on the same wavelength, the same page, about the threat that we’re facing.”
Finnish MP suggests boycotting Turkish kebabs, holidays and cars until Turkey approves Finland's Nato bid. Adds that Kurdish kebabs are OK pic.twitter.com/ioMSdur9we
— Richard Milne (@rmilneNordic) May 16, 2022
This echoes a previous statement made by Erdoğan’s spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalin, who said that Turkey is “not closing the door” on their membership applications but merely “raising this issue as a matter of national security.”
Crucially, Erdoğan himself has said he would allow expansion to move forward in exchange for certain concessions.
In this respect, The Washington Post reported that NATO diplomats “widely believe” that Turkey will ultimately approve the applications.
Furthermore, in a statement to Forbes, NATO officials said, “the security interests of all Allies have to be taken into account,” adding, “the alliance is determined to work through all issues and reach a rapid conclusion.”
Turkey’s position on Sweden and Finland applying to join NATO can be best summarized with Churchill’s line - “Never let a good crisis go to waste”
— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) May 18, 2022
Erdogan wants to extract a high price for his “YES” vote
Turkey’s objections come over Finland and Sweden harbouring members of Turkey’s minority groups and its refusal to extradite Kurdish “terrorists.” Furthermore, Sweden levelled an arms embargo against Turkey back in 2019 over its operations against the PKK in Syria.
The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO would double the alliance’s land border with Russia and expand NATO’s presence eastward, something Russia has repeatedly objected to.
Important conversation with my Turkish counterpart, @MevlutCavusoglu. We exchanged views on NATO, food security and Ukraine. Canada remains committed to working with Turkey and addressing the repercussions of President Putin’s senseless war. pic.twitter.com/L7EmcYLO0Y
— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) May 19, 2022
Russia has threatened Finland and Sweden with severe “political and military consequences” if they join the alliance. In fact, it has warned of deploying nuclear weapons to the Baltics. It has also moved its military equipment, including coastal defence systems, to its border with Finland. In addition, Russian Senator Viktor Bondarev has warned that NATO membership will push Russia to station even more troops along the border.
Despite such threats, Finland and Sweden formally submitted their applications on Wednesday after seeking assurances from Western nations, including Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, that they would be protected from any Russian attack during the accession process.