Turkey this Friday (13th) opposed Finland and Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is the first time that a member of the Western military alliance has opposed the accession of the two Scandinavian countries that were neutral but Russia decided to join NATO after invading Ukraine.
Turkish President Tayip Erdogan said his country, a NATO member since the 1950s, is not in favor of joining Finland and Sweden, which are expected to apply to join the alliance as early as next week.
To try to end the impasse, the foreign ministers of Sweden, Finland and Turkey are meeting this Saturday (14) in Berlin, Germany, where they will discuss an agreement.
1 of 1 Presidents Erdogan and Putin have developed a “pragmatic friendship” over the years — Photo: Getty Images/Via BBC
Presidents Erdogan and Putin have developed a “pragmatic friendship” over the years (Photo: Getty Images/Via BBC)
Although Turkey is part of NATO, it also has close ties with Russia, one of its key trading partners. And the Kremlin has already promised unprecedented retaliatory measures if Scandinavian countries geographically close to Russia join the military alliance.
Officially, however, Erdogan argued that Finland and Sweden are “harboring” Kurdish refugees who he says are part of the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, a group considered terrorist by Turkey.
“We don’t have a positive opinion. The Scandinavian countries are like a guest house for terrorist organizations,” he explained.
Turkey’s reaction is the first conflicting voice within NATO over the possibility of Finland and Sweden joining the North Atlantic Alliance.
Since the beginning of the crisis and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has done its best to maintain good relations with the two countries on which its economy is heavily dependent.