Turkey demands ‘concrete steps’ to allow Finland, Sweden NATO membership & More News Here

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A senior Turkish official insisted after talks with Swedish and Finnish officers Wednesday that Turkey wouldn’t agree to the 2 Nordic international locations becoming a member of NATO until particular steps are taken to handle Ankara’s objections.

“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,” Ibrahim Kalin instructed a information convention after the talks in Ankara that lasted about 5 hours.

READ MORE: How critical is Turkey’s Erdogan in denying Finland, Sweden NATO membership?

Kalin is the spokesman of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and a senior presidential aide.

Sweden and Finland submitted their written purposes to be part of NATO final week, in a transfer representing one of many largest geopolitical ramifications of Russia’s battle in Ukraine that might rewrite Europe’s safety map.

Turkey has stated it opposes the international locations’ membership within the Western navy alliance, citing grievances with Sweden’s — and a to a lesser extent Finland’s — perceived assist of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and different entities that Turkey views as safety threats.

The PKK, which is listed as a terror group by a number of of Turkey’s allies, has waged a decades-long insurgency towards Turkey, a battle that has price the lives of tens of hundreds individuals.

The Turkish authorities additionally accuses Finland and Sweden of imposing arms exports restrictions on Turkey and refusing to extradite suspected “terrorists.”

Turkey’s objections have dampened Stockholm’s and Helsinki’s hopes for becoming a member of NATO rapidly amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and put the trans-Atlantic alliance’s credibility at stake. All 30 NATO members should agree on admitting new members.

The Swedish and Finnish delegations met with Kalin and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal. The Swedish delegation was led by state secretary Oscar Stenstrom, whereas Jukka Salovaara, the international ministry undersecretary, headed up the Finnish delegation, Turkish officers stated.

Kalin stated Turkey’s proposal to elevate arms export limits was met with a “positive attitude” by the Swedish and Finnish delegations.

He added that talks would proceed as soon as the Nordic governments had responded to Turkey’s demands.
Turkey additionally expects the extradition of 28 “terrorism” suspects from Sweden and 12 from Finland, Kalin stated, including that there was “no legal or judicial basis” not to extradite them. Turkish state media had beforehand stated Turkey demanded the extradition of 33 suspects from the 2 international locations.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson stated following a gathering with European Council President Charles Michel in Stockholm that her nation wished to “clarify” claims which were floating round throughout discussions with Turkey.

“We do not send money or weapons to terrorist organizations,” Andersson stated.

During a information convention with the Estonian prime minister later Wednesday, Andersson stated that “in these times, it is important to strengthen our security.”

She stated Sweden has “a constructive dialogue” with Turkey and that Stockholm was “eager to sort out issues and misunderstandings and questions.”

Michel, who’s scheduled to head to Helsinki from Stockholm, stated it was “a pivotal moment for Sweden” and “we fully support your choices.”

Turkey this week listed 5 “concrete assurances” it was demanding from Sweden, together with what it stated was “termination of political support for terrorism,” an “elimination of the source of terrorism financing,” and the “cessation of arms support” to the banned PKK and a Syrian Kurdish militia group affiliated with it.

READ MORE: McConnell backs Finland, Sweden NATO memberships throughout cease in Europe

The demands additionally referred to as for the lifting of arms sanctions towards Turkey and world cooperation towards terrorism.

Turkey stated that it has requested the extradition of Kurdish militants and different suspects since 2017 however hasn’t obtained a optimistic response from Stockholm. The Turkish authorities claimed Sweden had determined to present $376 million to assist the Kurdish militants in 2023 and that it had supplied them with navy gear, together with anti-tank weapons and drones.

Finland has obtained 9 extradition requests from Turkey in a current interval masking over three years, Finnish information company STT stated Wednesday, citing information from the Finnish justice ministry. Two individuals had been extradited whereas six of the requests had been rejected. A choice was pending relating to one different case.

Speaking Tuesday earlier than a gathering of the Council of the Baltic Sea States, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated Russia had left Sweden and Finland “no choice” however to be part of NATO.

She stated Germany would assist the 2 international locations’ membership, calling it “a real gain” for the navy alliance.

Andrew Wilks in Istanbul, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Jari Tanner in Helsinki contributed to this report.

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