Turkey insists on blocking NATO expansion as Western leaders remain calm

Photos: AA/File

As soon as Sweden and Finland announced their intentions to join NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced opposition, calling the two countries "terrorist guesthouses."

In the past eight days, he reiterated his opposition to Sweden and Finland's NATO bid almost every single day. On Friday, he expanded the criticism to other European countries, where he said "terrorists can hold demonstrations as they want" and "are given the floor in parliaments."

Yet he found nobody to respond directly to his statements. Reactions from the two Nordic countries, as well as the US and NATO, were rather calm.

Hosting Sweden's PM and Finland's president, US President Biden dismissed Erdoğan's concerns, saying that having two new members would only enhance the security of the NATO countries.

Leaders of Sweden and Finland did not get into a quarrel with Erdoğan, either. They said they were ready to address Turkey's concerns, echoing what the NATO secretary-general said earlier.

Erdoğan on Saturday spoke over the phone with the two leaders, once again urging them to "end their support for terrorism."

He also told NATO's Stoltenberg, "Unless Sweden and Finland clearly show that they will stand in solidarity with Turkey on fundamental issues, especially in the fight against terrorism, we will not approach these countries' NATO membership positively," according to a statement by the Presidency.

• Turkey wants Sweden to extradite Kurdish author who died seven years ago

• Sweden, Finland, NATO and Turkey's veto

• Turkey's FM hopeful for F-16s after meeting with Blinken, reiterates opposition to Sweden, Finland

What does Turkey really want?

According to reports in the pro-government media, the government was preparing a 10-point "manifesto" including its demands from the two countries:

• PKK and its affiliates are terrorist organizations. You should clarify your stance on this.

• Activities including the acceptance in your parliaments of the so-called executive staff of the terrorist organization should be stopped. It is unacceptable for terrorists such as Zübeyir Aydar, the so-called European leader of the terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), to hold a conference in your parliament.

• In particular, the financial support you provide for the terrorist organization YPG should be cut off. Other terrorist organizations should not be legitimized under the guise of fighting against ISIS.

• Relations with the PKK's executive staff in the Iraq-Syria region should be stopped.

• Do not let the disinformation activities of FETÖ fugitives who have been issued a search warrant from Turkey

• The extradition process of the members of the organization, who operate on behalf of the PKK/YPG/KCK, and are wanted with a red notice, should be faster.

• While rightfully seeking guarantees for the security of your own country, stop supporting all kinds of activities against Turkey's security. This is incompatible with being allies.

• The mutual initiative should be taken to establish a mechanism with Turkey in the fight against terrorism.

• Cut off the money traffic of organizations in your country which are affiliated with the terrorist organizations, and block their bank accounts.

• Prevent activities and fundraising attempts against Turkey by organizations that conduct them under the name of NGOs.

Parts of Lake Salda look like a swamp due to water withdrawal The environment minister said the withdrawal was not human-induced but seasonal. "Those who weren't around when there were piles of garbage and vehicles on the beach remembered that they were environmentalists after we embraced Salda," he said, listing the measures they have taken to protect the lake. However, a local environmental group says the water withdrawal has been observed for three years and is caused by the irrigation ponds built on streams flowing into the lake.

Women and LGBTI+

◙ Religious groups in Eskişehir distribute leaflets advising "stoning LGBTI+s to death" Such groups are gaining influence and have good relations with the governor in the Central Anatolian city that has been considered a safe space by the LGBTI+ community, according to activists. Recently, the governor banned a music festival that those groups called "immoral."

◙ Threats and harassment against women journalists Two journalists were threatened by Islamic and nationalist groups because of their reporting. One revealed that she has been harassed by a man for months.

Law and human rights

◙ Bans on Kurdish concerts, theater plays The ban on renowned Kurdish singer Aynur Doğan's concert in Kocaeli was the latest one of the dozens of Kurdish concerts and other cultural events that were banned in the last three years.

◙ Union of Turkish Bar Associations files lawsuit seeking annulment of midnight music ban The ban was introduced in 2020 and has remained in place even though almost all other measures have been lifted.

◙ Women from across the world call on the UN to "take action regarding the attacks against Kurds" Seventy-five women's groups and individuals have addressed an open letter to the UN.

İstanbul Municipality removes mural after criticism from government officials The mural was first targeted by a social media account and then by an AKP deputy and an advisor to the president, who said it was "disgraceful." The municipality later removed the mural at the Gazhane Museum. "This disgraceful drawing that was exhibited in an area open to the public and where children also enter has been in the Gazhane Museum until today. We just checked it and they removed it 'because of the reactions.' I wish the same for their dirty mentality," MP Rümeysa Kadak wrote.

Politics

◙ Kılıçdaroğlu takes on military contractor with close links to the government The CHP leader continued targeting SADAT after his unexpected visit to the company's headquarters last week. While the opposition party describes the company as a "paramilitary group" that would threaten election security, SADAT officials have denied those claims, saying that they provide advisory services to Muslim countries and facilitate Turkey's arms sales.

◙ Veteran Kurdish politician says HDP will likely be closed before the elections The verdict in the Gezi Park case and the prison sentence given to CHP's Kaftancıoğlu raised expectations that the HDP will be closed. ""We are faced with a mentality that would not hesitate to drag the public into an environment of chaos and conflict by resorting to any kind of political cheating, tactics, maneuvers and illegal ways," said Ahmet Türk, a former party leader, MP and mayor.

◙ Senior AKP official dismissed after saying "UAE surrendered to us" MP Mehmet Özkan has been dismissed as the party's parliamentary group deputy chair after his remarks on the Turkey-UAE rapprochement.

◙ Survey: CHP ahead of AKP among first-time voters The main opposition party's popular support among the 18-22 age group is significantly higher than that of the ruling party, shows a new survey.

Labor and economy

◙ Is a wheat crisis on Turkey's doorstep? The country's wheat production has remained the same in the past two decades, according to the head of the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers. The Russia-Ukraine war and some countries' bans on wheat exports complicate the issue, he said.

◙ Turkey's NEET rate drops The share of young people neither studying nor working dropped from 25.3 percent in 2020 to 22.6 percent in 2021 as the youth labor participation rate increased, according to TurkStat figures.

◙ House sales to foreigners further increase More than 133,000 houses were sold in Turkey in April, in a 38.8 percent increase compared to the same month last year, official figures showed. Citizens of Russia, Iran and Iraq bought the highest number of residential properties.

◙ Work starts to demolish Atatürk Airport runways, opposition claims İstanbul Airport to be sold The opposition claims the government wants to sell İstanbul Airport to investors from Gulf countries, who don't want a second airport on the city's European side. The government is working to convert the now-idle airport into a giant recreation area, which they say will be the "Central Park of İstanbul."

The trustee-mayor of Diyarbakır planted 200 palm trees around the city; all of them have dried up "We previously said that palms are plants belonging to the tropical belt and grow in high-humidity areas. We couldn't convince them that Diyarbakır has a continental climate and the palms would dry up," said the head of the city's chamber of agricultural engineers. (Photo: MA)

Migration

◙ Over 500,000 refugees have returned to Syria, says minister Every week, about 500 refugees return to "safe regions that we have created," the interior minister said. The government recently revived the idea of sending up to a million refugees to the areas controlled by Turkey.

◙ Opinion | (In)visible refugees in Europe European leaders' discrimination dehumanizes non-European refugees, argues Cevdet Acu.

Freedom of expression

◙ BirGün newspaper to pay damages to foundation led by Erdoğan's son-in-law The newspaper reported on the links between the T3 Foundation and the Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), a state agency.

◙ bianet reporter deposes after complaint by academic Ruken Tuncel extensively reported on alleged irregularities at Munzur University. A faculty member filed a complaint against her because of one of her tweets. Tuncel said the police had also asked her about her articles and social media posts unrelated to the complaint.

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