Government sources: Sweden, Finland, Ankara agreement is a reflection of Turkey

“The tripartite agreement between Sweden, Finland and Turkey paves the way for the strengthening of the European arm within NATO, without affecting EU-Turkey relations and relevant European decisions,” government sources said. of Turkey.

In detail and for each aspect of this agreement, government sources emphasize:

“The agreement between Finland, Sweden and Turkey, which launches the process of the two Nordic countries joining NATO, is essentially a reflection of Turkey, which has intensified its rhetoric in recent months, but without extracting anything particularly legitimate. on its part and does not in any way harm the interests of Greece, nor can it affect EU-Turkey relations.

In particular, the agreement makes in principle an explicit reference to the founding treaty of NATO, which in both the preamble and the first article refers to the United Nations Charter and the peaceful settlement of disputes, something that Turkey must do.

Most of the text deals with counter-terrorism issues, which has been a key priority for the Turkish government, apparently for internal consumption.

Two important parameters are held on these points:

Paragraph 4 states that Sweden and Finland will cease to support Kurdish organizations in Syria (YPD / PYG), as well as the Fethullah Gülen movement, which is described in the text as described in Turkey, and consequently not in Sweden and Finland as “FETO”. There is no link between these Kurdish organizations and terrorism, which is a constant request of Turkey, which, however, does not find a response.

Paragraph 5 refers to the PKK, an organization recognized by the European Union as a terrorist organization.

Paragraph 8 (3) also refers to the possibility of extraditing terrorism suspects from Sweden and Finland to Turkey, but there is an explicit provision that, if implemented, they will only be made in compliance with the European Convention on Extradition.

With regard to arms exports, the text makes no reference to the commitments made by both Sweden and Finland within the European Union, which are still in force.

It is recalled that licenses for the export of weapons systems are a national decision and not a European one.

Finally, it is pointed out that there are allied countries within NATO, which have stopped arms exports to Turkey.

The reality is that in any case the two Nordic countries traditionally do not play a particularly large role in Ankara’s armaments programs.

The value of Sweden’s sales in Turkey for the entire five years 2015-19 barely exceeds 50 million euros (at the current koruna-euro exchange rate).

Swedish exports to Turkey make up a very small part of total arms sales from Stockholm, which in 2020 exceeded 1.52 billion euros.

It is also indicative that between 2015 and 2019 our neighboring country was just the 25th largest buyer of Swedish weapons.

The picture is similar in terms of armaments cooperation between Turkey and Finland.

In 2019 and 2020, arms sales in Turkey totaled 5.1 million euros.

With regard to point 7 of paragraph 8, Turkey’s ardent desire to participate in the Common European Defense and Security (CSDP) is reiterated, as well as in the form of the Permanent Structured [Αμυντικής] Cooperation (PESCO) of the EU, and in particular in the field of military mobility.

In fact, any support of Sweden and Finland to this Turkish request is only symbolic, as the participation of any third country in the CSDP or PESCO requires a unanimous decision of the participating EU countries, including both our country and and Cyprus.

In addition, third countries must have a security agreement with the EU and an administrative arrangement with the European Defense Agency.

Both require unanimity within the EU. Turkey has not concluded any of the above.

In any case, Helsinki and Stockholm are bound by the positions of the Union and the Conclusions of the European Council, which clearly record the Turkish provocation and European support for Greek sovereignty and sovereign rights over Ankara’s landless claims.

Greece, as an EU member state, has the ability to monitor developments and exercise its rights and protect its interests.

“Greece has supported the accession of Sweden and Finland from the beginning, in the context of European solidarity, and expects their full accession to NATO as soon as possible, as the European arm of the EU within NATO will be further strengthened.”