Following a meeting with Swedish and Finnish diplomats in Ankara, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin noted that the two countries had displayed a “positive approach” to lifting weapons export restrictions. However, there was no movement on Turkey’s demand for the two Nordic nations to extradite Kurdish “terrorists”—28 from Sweden and 12 from Finland.
Turkey has demanded five concrete assurances from Sweden, in particular: the “termination of political support for terrorism;” the “elimination of the source of terrorism financing”; the “cessation of arms support” to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian People's Defense Units (YPG); the withdrawal of arms sanctions against Turkey; and a commitment to global cooperation against terrorism.
Presidential Spokesperson Kalin says we:
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) May 25, 2022
- Concentrated on core issues in the meeting
- Have not decided on a document
- Are not under time pressure, what matters is to make sure that process continues in a way that will address security concerns of Türkiye pic.twitter.com/clX4WADHwm
In this regard, Kalin said after the talks: “We have made it very clear that if Turkey’s security concerns are not met with concrete steps in a certain timeframe the process will not progress.”
Finland and Sweden formally submitted their membership application last week but Turkey has blocked discussions. Approval requires the unanimous approval of all 30 NATO members.
Turkey opposes the countries’ bid to join the alliance over Sweden and Finland’s alleged support for the PKK and the YPG, both of which Turkey sees as terrorist organisations. The Kurdish groups have waged a decades-long war against Turkey that has killed thousands of people.
The Turkish government has also accused Finland and Sweden of refusing to extradite Kurdish “militants” and of imposing arms export restrictions on Turkey following its military offensive against YPG in Syria in 2019.
There are Unconfirmed reports tonight that the U.S Government has given the “Green Light” to the Turkish Military’s upcoming planned Offensive against Kurdish Y.P.G Positions in Northern Syria, in exchange for this Turkey will reportedly approve Sweden/Finland to join NATO. pic.twitter.com/yYRqEbvw8t
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 23, 2022
In 2017, Turkey requested the extradition of Kurdish fighters and other militants; however, it is yet to receive a reply from Sweden. Similarly, Finland has received nine extradition requests from Turkey; it has ejected six of Ankara’s requests and approved two.
In this regard, Kalin said following the meeting yesterday that there isn’t any “legal or judicial basis” to restrict the extradition of the Kurdish fighters.
NEW:
— Hakan Copur (@hakancopur1) May 20, 2022
🇬🇧 UK has lifted all restrictions on defense exports to 🇹🇷 Turkey.
Timing couldn’t be better.#NATO #Sweden #Finland
Turkey has also accused Sweden of allocating $376 million for Kurdish fighters in its budget next year, including anti-tank weapons and drones. However, in a meeting with European Council President Charles Michel in Stockholm yesterday, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson stressed, “We do not send money or weapons to terrorist organizations.”
Similarly, foreign minister Ann Linde has said, “Sweden is a major humanitarian donor to the Syria crisis through global allocations to humanitarian actors.”
Linde further said, “Cooperation in northeastern Syria is carried out primarily through the United Nations and international organisations,” adding, “Sweden doesn’t provide targeted support to Syrian Kurds or to the political or military structures in northeastern Syria, but the population in these areas is, of course, taking part in these aid projects.”
Discussions between high level officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey in Ankara today, dealing with Finland's and Sweden's #NATO memberships and the security concerns presented by Turkey. It was agreed that the dialogue, conducted in a constructive spirit, will be continued.
— Ann Linde (@AnnLinde) May 25, 2022
The latest round of talks in Ankara involved individual meetings with Turkey as well as trilateral discussions. Turkey was represented by Kalin and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal. The Swedish delegation was led by State Secretary Oscar Stenstrom, while Finland’s delegation was led by foreign ministry Undersecretary Jukka Salovaara.
They follow separate conversations Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held with Swedish PM Andersson, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg this past Saturday. During the three conversations, Erdoğan stressed that Turkey “could not have a positive view on Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership so long as these countries did not show that they would be in solidarity with Turkey concerning fundamental issues, combatting terrorism in particular.”
⚡️Progress reported in talks on NATO accession by Finland, Sweden.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 25, 2022
The Turkish president’s spokesperson said that Turkey has “seen a positive attitude towards lifting of embargo regarding defense industry products” during talks with delegations from Finland and Sweden.
Finland and Sweden’s NATO application come amid fear that they could be Russia’s next target after Ukraine.
Russia has threatened severe “political and military consequences” if they join NATO, however, warning that it could deploy nuclear weapons to the Baltics. It has also moved its military equipment, including coastal defence systems, to its 1,300-kilometre 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.