Turkey, Sweden, Finland resume NATO talks

The talks had stalled after the Quran-burning incidents in Sweden. The NATO chief said the Nordic countries have taken "unprecedented steps" to address Turkey's concerns.

İstanbul

Turkey, Sweden, Finland resume NATO talks

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Delegations from Turkey, Sweden and Finland gathered in Brussels yesterday (March 9) as part of the trilateral talks to discuss the Nordic countries' NATO membership bids.

The talks that began after a trilateral memorandum in June 2022 had stalled after the Quran-burning incidents in Sweden in January.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who opened the meeting, said, "Finland and Sweden have taken unprecedented steps to address legitimate Turkish security concerns."

As a result of the talks that have been going on since a June 2022 memorandum, there are no arms export restrictions between the three countries, they have enhanced counter-terrorism cooperation, and Sweden is tightening its anti-terrorism legislation, said a statement on NATO'S website.

Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden also agreed on the long-term value of the Permanent Joint Mechanism in fighting terrorism and agreed to continue cooperation in this format and meet again before the Vilnius Summit, said the NATO statement.

"Some steps are positive"

Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın, a member of Turkey's delegation, said, some steps of Finland and Sweden in some areas are "satisfactory," which Türkiye welcomes, however, adding, "Of course, the process is not finished yet."

"We also expressed our expectation that the necessary legal, judicial, administrative, and intelligence steps should be taken, especially in order to prevent terrorist financing, recruitment, propaganda of terrorism, and incitement to violence."

What happened?

Sweden and Finland last year applied to join NATO, in a decision triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkey, however, objected to their membership, citing their inaction against "terror groups," namely the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the "Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)," an Islamic group held responsible for the 2016 coup attempt.

The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding on June 28 at the NATO summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Defense Units (YPG), which Turkey sees as the PKK's extensions in Syria.

The Nordic countries also agreed to address Ankara's pending deportation or extradition requests regarding "terror" suspects.
Turkey's parliament must ratify the country's approval for Finland and Sweden's membership for them to join NATO.

In September, Sweden lifted restrictions on arms sales to Turkey, which was among Ankara's demands in order to approve its NATO bid.

The trilateral talks were interrupted after the Quran-burning incidents in Sweden in late January.

(AEK/VK)