Turkey’s continued opposition to the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO.
Turkey’s foreign minister stated that Finland and Sweden have not yet met Ankara’s conditions for agreeing to their NATO membership request, and said that he expects positive steps from Stockholm and Helsinki.
Despite Finnish Prime Minister Sana Marin’s public request to Turkey to agree to the country’s and Sweden’s request to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Ankara continues to oppose it.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Thursday evening that Finland and Sweden have not yet met all the conditions set by Ankara for NATO membership.
According to Sputnik news agency, Cavusoglu explained during a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Istanbul: “We are witnessing some positive steps, especially the lifting of arms embargoes and changes in laws. But this is not the fulfillment of all conditions.
Stating that Ankara expects stable steps from Stockholm and Helsinki, he said: “We have no problem with Finland. The Secretary General of NATO and these countries want to enter the alliance together, but they are not the same in the process [of fulfilling our conditions]. We hope that the negotiations will reach a positive result.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Finland asked Turkey and Hungary to agree to the request of Sweden and Finland to join the NATO military alliance as soon as possible. (More details)
The governments of Turkey and Hungary are the only remaining countries in the NATO alliance that have not yet agreed to Finland and Sweden’s request for membership in NATO due to the fact that their conditions have not been fulfilled.
According to Reuters, the countries of Finland and Sweden last week, in an attempt to show a united front to Turkey, emphasized that both should join NATO at the same time.
Following Russia’s military operation in Ukraine last March, Finland and Sweden submitted applications for NATO membership on May 18, and so far 28 of the 30 NATO member countries have agreed to join the alliance.
