Tension between Sweden, Finland and Turkey.
With the beginning of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, many European countries, influenced by the security environment of this continent and Western media propaganda, decided to reconsider their defense policies and join the North Atlantic Treaty, or NATO. Accordingly, in May 2022, Sweden and Finland officially submitted a request for NATO membership to this military organization. However, these two countries faced a strong barrier to join NATO. As one of the oldest members of NATO, the Republic of Turkey has been accused of harboring elements affiliated with terrorist groups such as “P. K. K” or Fethullah Gülen’s political current called by these two countries, has made its agreement conditional on the extradition or expulsion of these anti-Turkish elements from these countries.
Following this condition, the Turks, Finland and Sweden announced their readiness to address the security concerns of the Erdogan government by signing a memorandum of understanding with Ankara. However, some experts believe that the expulsion of the Kurds from the Nordic countries is just an excuse by the Turkish government to cancel the US arms embargo and start negotiations for the purchase of “F-16” from Washington.
extradition of opponents; Erdogan’s main condition
On Sunday, January 15, 2023, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his displeasure with Sweden and Finland’s inattention to handing over or expelling 130 terrorists. He further added that Ankara’s condition for agreeing to the joining of these two countries to NATO is to comply with this request. Referring to the continuation of anti-Turkish demonstrations by Kurdish groups in Sweden, Erdoğan warned this country that the continuation of this trend will increase the tension in Ankara-Stockholm relations. Previously, Turkey, in addition to dealing with the elements of Kurdish groups, had demanded similar action regarding the network affiliated with the movement of Fethullah Gulen. It seems that the security strategy of the Turkish government in dealing with the Kurdish movements is not limited to this country or the Middle East region, but Ankara seeks to limit the activities of its opponents in the heart of the European continent and even North America.
