The Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg addressed on Thursday (16/2) call on Ankara to welcome Finland and Sweden into the Atlantic alliance “now”, whose candidacies for membership have been blocked by Turkey since May.
“I still think it is time now to ratify (the accession) of Finland and Sweden at the same timeStoltenberg said at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The Secretary General of NATO, who went to Turkey to show support for the Alliance after the devastating earthquake of February 6 which caused at least 36,000 deaths in the country, had mentioned yesterday Tuesday for the first time the possibility of Finland joining the Alliance ahead of Sweden.
He stated, however, that he seeks to secure “as soon as possible” the final ratifications of Turkey and Hungary for the two countries.
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted in early February that the Turkish parliament could ratify Finland’s membership without Sweden’s, which was tabled alongside it, which Ankara still blocks.
Cavusoglu: The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will be discussed with the US Secretary of State
“It would not be realistic to say that Sweden has fully fulfilled its obligations arising from the protocol of agreement signed in June between Turkey, Sweden and Finland,” the head of Turkish diplomacy Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated today.
Cavusoglu also noted that Turkey is ready to “evaluate Finland’s NATO accession process separately from Sweden’s.”
The Foreign Minister of Turkey also stated that will discuss the issue of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership in talks next week with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Speaking after his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Cavusoglu said bilateral relations, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would also be discussed with Blinken.
Turkey accuses Sweden, among others, of providing sanctuary to Kurdish fighters and supporters whom it describes as “terrorists”, mainly those of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The leaders of NATO’s 30 member countries took the decision to invite Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance during the summit in Madrid in July 2022.
Thirty countries signed the accession protocols and 28 ratified them. Only Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify their agreement.
A decision in January by Swedish authorities to allow a demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, during which a copy of the Koran was burned, angered Ankara, which halted negotiations by postponing a tripartite meeting that was due to take place in February.
NATO member countries have offered 40 containers and 20,000 tents to house earthquake victims.
Source: News Beast
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