Turkey may approve Finland’s NATO bid without Sweden: Erdogan
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey might approve Finland’s accession into the NATO military alliance while keeping its Nordic neighbor in limbo over continued unmet demands, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.
“We may respond differently to Finland if necessary. Sweden would be shocked when we respond differently to Finland. But Finland should not make the same mistake,” Erdogan said during a meeting with young voters days after Ankara harshly criticized a Quran burning event in Stockholm.
Sweden and Finland’s hopes of attaining approval to join NATO depend on Turkey, as the Nordic countries have repeatedly been handed demands to extradite members of groups including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara considers “terrorists,” in exchange for Turkey’s yes on the accession.
“If you absolutely want to join NATO, you will return these terrorists to us,” Erdogan said to Sweden, referring to a list of 120 people, including suspected PKK members, that Ankara submitted to Stockholm for extradition to Turkey in exchange for its approval to join NATO.
Earlier in January, a copy of the Quran was burned outside Ankara’s embassy in Stockholm by Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Swedish-Danish activist and politician, which prompted Turkey to cancel a rare visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson the following week to Ankara and rolled back Stockholm’s hard-earned progress of joining the military alliance.
Ankara also expressed outrage at Sweden’s inaction over the hanging of an effigy of Erdogan upside down outside Stockholm’s City Court by a PKK-linked group earlier this month.
The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey for decades, fighting for increased Kurdish cultural and political rights in the country’s southeast which has long been an economic backwater.
While Finland has reiterated that it remains committed to a joint NATO accession, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto hinted for the first time last week that Helsinki may be forced to enter the alliance without its Nordic neighbor.
By voting to join NATO, Sweden and Finland broke their decades-long tradition of military non-alignment, a decision that was triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
While Hungary also has yet to approve of the Nordic countries’ applications, its parliament is expected to approve both bids in February.
“We may respond differently to Finland if necessary. Sweden would be shocked when we respond differently to Finland. But Finland should not make the same mistake,” Erdogan said during a meeting with young voters days after Ankara harshly criticized a Quran burning event in Stockholm.
Sweden and Finland’s hopes of attaining approval to join NATO depend on Turkey, as the Nordic countries have repeatedly been handed demands to extradite members of groups including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara considers “terrorists,” in exchange for Turkey’s yes on the accession.
“If you absolutely want to join NATO, you will return these terrorists to us,” Erdogan said to Sweden, referring to a list of 120 people, including suspected PKK members, that Ankara submitted to Stockholm for extradition to Turkey in exchange for its approval to join NATO.
Earlier in January, a copy of the Quran was burned outside Ankara’s embassy in Stockholm by Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Swedish-Danish activist and politician, which prompted Turkey to cancel a rare visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson the following week to Ankara and rolled back Stockholm’s hard-earned progress of joining the military alliance.
Ankara also expressed outrage at Sweden’s inaction over the hanging of an effigy of Erdogan upside down outside Stockholm’s City Court by a PKK-linked group earlier this month.
The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey for decades, fighting for increased Kurdish cultural and political rights in the country’s southeast which has long been an economic backwater.
While Finland has reiterated that it remains committed to a joint NATO accession, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto hinted for the first time last week that Helsinki may be forced to enter the alliance without its Nordic neighbor.
By voting to join NATO, Sweden and Finland broke their decades-long tradition of military non-alignment, a decision that was triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
While Hungary also has yet to approve of the Nordic countries’ applications, its parliament is expected to approve both bids in February.