Turkey will continue to delay the Swedish and Finnish NATO processes if they do not meet the requirements. That was the Turkish message after the meeting between the Swedish-Finnish and Turkish delegations in Ankara.
– It is remarkable that you do not see any time pressure, and the upcoming NATO meeting in Madrid in June is not seen as a deadline in this matter. They seem to be sitting quietly in the boat to put pressure on Sweden and Finland to meet Turkey’s demands, says SVT’s Turkey correspondent Tomas Thorén.
“Positive attitude”
President Erdogan’s adviser Ibrahim Kalin, who himself was Turkey’s representative in the talks, said at a press conference that no concrete agreements had been reached. However, he says he has seen positive signs in the issue of the alleged arms embargo on Turkey.
– We have seen a positive attitude during the meeting regarding the possibility of lifting sanctions against the export of weapons equipment. This is a positive development. As our President has mentioned before, it is not right for allies to have sanctions against each other. It will only weaken the alliance, and make our enemies happy.
However, there is no question of a general embargo, but Sweden, through the Swedish Inspectorate for Strategic Products (ISP), has stopped all arms deliveries to the country since 2019.
Continued dialogue awaits
Ibrahim Kalin emphasizes that the talks will continue. The list of requirements regarding the view of the Kurdish organizations remains unchanged.
– We have been clear that organizations such as the PKK, YPG, PYD, are not terrorist threats that Turkey can ignore, these are terrorist groups that carry out attacks on Turkey.
“The dialogue, which is conducted in a constructive spirit, will continue,” wrote both Foreign Minister Ann Linde and the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Twitter, without going into what emerged in the talks.
From the Swedish side, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s State Secretary Oscar Stenström participated.