Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will not allow Sweden and Finland to join NATO because of their stance on Kurdish fighters, which overturns plans to strengthen the military alliance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. .
In a press conference in Ankara late Monday, Erdogan voiced Turkish opposition to NATO’s enlargement plan. His statements were the clearest indication that he intended to block the two countries’ accession, or at least to make concessions to it, since Sweden and Finland announced their intention to join the alliance.
“These two countries do not have a clear stance against terrorism” and “Sweden is a nest of terrorist organizations,” Erdogan said. He also said that Turkey would not allow countries that impose “sanctions” on Turkey to join NATO, a clear reference to the arms embargo imposed by several European countries.
At the heart of the issue is Erdogan’s deep resentment against NATO allies as he says they refuse to take Ankara’s concerns about Kurdish fighters operating inside Turkey and beyond its borders into Syria and Iraq seriously. . Turkey wants its perception of the threat to be recognized by all NATO members.
Erdogan also noted that officials from Sweden and Finland who are planning to visit Ankara for talks do not even have to bother traveling.
War in Syria
Much of the controversy lies in how allied countries differentiate between the two affiliated Kurdish groups that Turkey is fighting. While Turkey, the US and the European Union align themselves with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a terrorist organization within Turkey, the US and Europe have equipped the YPG. Turkey considers the YPG and the PKK to be branches of the same group.
Western support for Kurdish fighters inside Syria has accelerated since the Islamic State occupied large swathes of Syria and Iraq since 2014. The United States and some European governments have provided support, including weapons, to the YPG to help overthrow the YPG. profits of the jihadists.
Turkey, alarmed by the prospect of a well-equipped Kurdish army that could help Kurdish separatist ambitions, has sent troops to Syria to push the group away from its borders. Many EU countries, including Sweden and Finland, then responded with restrictions on arms sales to Turkey.
“We call on these countries, along with existing NATO members, to stop supporting these terrorists and to end the practice of restricting arms exports to Turkey, as it is against the spirit of the alliance,” she said. Turkish Mevlüt ÇavuÅŸoλουlu in Berlin on Sunday at a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.
Earlier Monday, the Turkish news agency Anadolu presented a detailed account of Turkey’s specific complaints about Sweden and Finland’s alleged support for Kurdish fighters.
He said the Swedish-made AT-4 anti-tank weapons had been used by the YPG in attacks against Turkish forces in Syria, without claiming that Sweden had supplied the ammunition found in the arsenals of several armies around the world. He also highlighted alleged contacts between senior Swedish and Kurdish officials.
As for Finland, Anadolu referred to Helsinki’s opposition to Turkish cross-border military operations against Kurdish fighters and to a 2019 decision not to approve any new defense export licenses to Turkey, the year EU foreign ministers jointly pledged to restrict arms sales to Turkey due to its military operation in Syria.
A senior Turkish official has confirmed that Anadolu’s article reflects Ankara’s concerns.
On Monday, Finland’s foreign minister reiterated his surprise at Turkey’s intervention in his country’s request.
Speaking in the Helsinki parliament, Peka Havisto said Tsavousoglu had informed him on May 5 that Finland’s accession to NATO would be a “very simple process in Turkey” and that President Sauli Niinisto had received a similar message from Erdogan.
“Since then, these additional questions have been raised about the PKK,” said Havisto. “We have a clear answer. We are not negotiating, we are answering: The PKK is banned in Finland because it is also on the list of EU terrorist organizations.”
Source: Capital
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