Hüseyin Bağcı, director of the Turkish Foreign Policy Institute, told President Sauli Niinistö at an event in Helsinki that Finland would not yet receive NATO approval at the Madrid summit.
17:09 • Updated 5:16 PM
Turkey is not stopping Finland’s NATO membership – only delaying it, says Visiting Professor in Helsinki Hüseyin Bağcı in an interview.
– In the same way, in personal life we first get engaged and then just get married. A hasty marriage does not bring happiness, Bağcı compares.
He is the director of the Turkish Foreign Policy Institute and a professor of international relations at the Middle East Technical University.
Bağcı faced the president of the republic on Thursday Sauli Niinistö in the context of a discussion organized by the German Körber Foundation.
– I told the President of Finland that no green light is expected to be given to Finland’s NATO membership in Turkey yet [Naton huippukokouksessa kesäkuun lopulla] In Madrid. In the long run [. . .] Sweden and Finland are joining NATO. Turkey cannot and will not prevent it, Bağcı says.
The content of the discussions will not be commented on in more detail by , a citizen of the President of the Republic, referring to the Chatham House rules in place at the time, which grant protection to the source.
– I strongly believe in deeds. In the security order of the future of Europe, we must be stronger, also in terms of our mindset, Niinistö said at the event, according to a Twitter update distributed by the Chancellery.
“The situation in Finland is easier than in Sweden”
According to Bağcı, the Turks are sympathetic to Finland’s security concerns as Russia’s neighbor. According to him, Finland’s and Sweden’s membership in NATO would also be Turkey’s security policy advantage.
He says the demands made by the Turkish government are partly related to domestic policy goals. As for Finland, Bağcı mentions the sanctions imposed on Turkey, in which Finland has participated together with other EU countries.
According to Bağcı, the situation in Finland is easier than in Sweden, because Finland’s relations with the organizations that Turkey claims to be terrorist organizations are more distant than those of Sweden.
– Finland and Sweden are democracies with their own rules and responsibilities, but NATO is a group that joins the group’s rules, such as the fight against terrorism, Bağci criticizes.
According to him, Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership is a completely separate issue, which has nothing to do with Turkey’s relations with the United States or Russia.
– Turkey is not a prisoner of Russia’s demands for Finland and Sweden, nor is it a prisoner of the United States, he says.
The Turkish Foreign Policy Institute was established in 1974 and is closely associated with foreign embassies and diplomats.
Senior researcher at the Finnish Foreign Policy Institute specializing in Turkey Toni Alaranta says the Bağcı incubator is a relatively independent player, yet in line with the current Turkish government, especially on the most sensitive political issues.
– As far as I have followed their publications and Bağcı’s comments, they are quite close to Turkey’s official line. The difference is that it’s not direct propaganda and the style of commenting on things isn’t aggressive, Alaranta says.