Turkey’s Erdogan to ratify Finland’s NATO bid ahead of Sweden
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – As recent talks have indicated that Finland may join NATO a head of Sweden, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted on Wednesday that he might soon ratify Finland’s NATO bid separately from Sweden.
Erdogan told reporters that Finland President Sauli Niinisto is scheduled to visit Turkey on Thursday “after that, we will fulfill our promise.”
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in May 2022 prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February but were met with huge rejection from Turkey and Hungary.
Turkey had rejected the two Nordic countries’ bid for NATO membership under the pretext that they support the Kurdistan Worlers’ Party (PKK), the Democratic Union Part (PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Protests in Stockholm in which the Quran was burned, in addition to another protest in which an effigy of the Turkish president was hung upside down angered Turkish officials and gave Ankara another reason to look unfavorably on Sweden’s NATO accession.
A senior Turkish official told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that Finland’s bid would be approved independently from that of Sweden, which Turkey repeatedly accused of being soft when taking steps against supporters of Kurdish members, who Turkey describes as “terrorists.”
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on March 14 that the likelihood of Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden had increased “it’s not out of the question that Sweden and Finland will be ratified in different stages.”
Both the US and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have been pressing for a joint expansion in a bid to welcome the Nordic countries.
“The Biden team will fight tooth and nail to convince Erdogan to back down and allow joint accession,” said Nicholas Heras, senior director for the strategy and innovation department at the Newlines Institute.
In June, the NATO announced about a trilateral memorandum between Turkey, Sweden and Finland paving the way for Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership.