Turkish Ambassador to France Ali Onaner told a French television station that his country had “no objection in principle” to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, but that as “the largest European army in the alliance” it expected its partners “to confirm that they are acting as allies in all areas”.
Referring in particular to the “fight against terrorism” and, above all, the position of Sweden and Finland against “PKK terrorists”, he stressed that it is not only Turkey that sees the PKK as a terrorist organization, as it is recognized as such by both EU and US.
Asked what exactly Turkey is asking for in order to unblock the process, he said “we expect all our allies to stop leniency, co-operation or support for the PKK. And one should not believe that calling the PKK by other names frees it “The idea of not supporting terrorism. The idea of not supporting terrorism is what we primarily expect.” The Turkish ambassador went on to say that “the return of terrorists” living in Sweden and Finland is not in itself a precondition for Turkey’s approval of NATO membership and called for a change “in the general approach, for example, in Sweden. regarding the PKK “.
Regarding the war in Ukraine and in particular whether a resumption of negotiations between Kiev and Moscow on Turkish soil is planned, Onaner said: “Unfortunately at the moment such negotiations do not seem possible. An optimistic approach would allow us to hope that both sides they will realize that it will be better to negotiate “.
“Asked about Turkish drones and their role in the ongoing war, the ambassador said that Turkey exported significant quantities of equipment in a completely transparent manner, many months before the Russian attack.”
He was also asked about the air base in Incirlik, with the journalist referring to its importance for NATO operations in the former Yugoslavia and Syria.
The Turkish Ambassador said: “As I said before, Turkey is the most important, most necessary partner of NATO. In every NATO operation, Turkey offers its means and provides its support to these operations, we can refer to numerous NATO operations. operations in which Turkey has contributed or in which Turkish bases have been used by NATO forces. ”
Source: Capital
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