A Turkish expert estimates that Turkey is unlikely to accept NATO expansion before the June elections.
Turkey’s message does not seem to change. Finland and Sweden need to do more before Turkey can accept the countries to join NATO.
This is probably also the message that the Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen (central) will hear when he meets his Turkish official brother the Minister of Defense today Hulusi Akari in Ankara.
Both Akar and the Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu have been talking about what Turkey wants in the last few days. Although the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg assures that Finland and Sweden are already ready for membership, Turkey clearly disagrees.
Former diplomat Murat Ersavci, who leads the Tepav think tank says by phone from Ankara that Turkey’s June elections are visible in everything.
– NATO expansion is part of Turkey’s internal policy. I think it seems that the issue will not be resolved before the elections, says Ersavci.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to present himself as a strong leader and he has connected the expansion of NATO to, among other things, the fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK. Finland and Sweden are required to take tougher measures against “terrorists”.
Export of weapons allowed
Turkey hopes for concrete concessions. Foreign minister Çavuşoğlu said on Tuesday (you will switch to another service)that Finland should lift the ban on arms exports to Turkey.
There is no formal ban, but in October 2019 it was reported that no new export permits will be issued. The background was the ground attack launched by Turkey against the Syrian Kurds.
Starting the arms trade again is important for Turkey, even though the trade with Finland has been relatively small and Turkey is focusing on developing its own arms industry.
Read here about Finnish arms exports to Turkey, before the restrictions:
This is what Finland’s arms exports to Turkey look like – the numbers are growing fast, green light for selling ammunition to Turkish special forces, among other things
And about the situation this spring:
Finland did not issue a new permit for the export of protective steel to a future NATO partner – two arms export permits to Turkey are still valid
Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen told about the suspension of arms exports in the fall of 2019, so he will have the opportunity to clarify the situation when he meets Defense Minister Akari.
Turkey has recently been talking about a new ground attack on northern Syria. According to President Erdoğan, Turkey is still planning a so-called security zone about 30 kilometers deep in northern Syria.
In Turkey’s opinion, the YPG armed forces of the Syrian Kurds and the PYD party are part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK, which the EU also considers a terrorist organization.
Finland and Sweden are in the agreement signed in connection with the NATO summit in Madrid in June in the document (you switch to another service). committed not to support Kurdish organizations in Syria. In the future, it will be difficult for the countries to criticize Turkey’s attacks against the Kurds.
The Turkish defense minister sees images and provocations
Defense Minister Akar recently told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency by (you switch to another service), that terrorist propaganda can be seen in Finland and Sweden. According to Akari, who hosts everything in Ankara, there will be “disturbing images” from both countries and there will also be provocations.
Turkey has been particularly dissatisfied with the demonstrations organized in Sweden, where PKK flags have been waved.
In Finland, the police prevented the carrying of the flags of the PKK and some other Kurdish organizations at the Helsinki without Nazis demonstration organized on Independence Day. The police reasoned that the flags could have caused provocations.
Helsinki police receives positive attention in Turkey
Murat Ersavci says that Turkey is really following these things.
– In my opinion, the activities of the Finnish police are seen positively here. Such events are easily publicized in the current climate, says Ersavci.
To the Helsinki police from ticketing has been reported in Turkey (you will switch to another service). In the government-supporting media, the police’s actions have been seen as an example of a change in Finland’s line. For example, someone close to the government Sabah magazine (you will switch to another service)interpreted the matter to mean that PKK flags are now banned in Finland.
Apart from Turkey, Hungary has not ratified the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, but Hungary has at least promised to take care of the matter at the beginning of next year. As far as Turkey is concerned, the schedule is completely open.
You can discuss the topic until Friday, 9.12. until 11 p.m.
Read more:
Foreign Policy Institute researcher on the banning of PKK flags at the demonstration: “It’s hard not to see the connection to the NATO process”