At the heart of the memorandum of understanding between Finland, Sweden and Turkey are two things: Turkey wants a tense attitude towards the Kurds and a free arms trade.
Teemu Juhola,
Antti Seppälä
The document signed by Finland, Sweden and Turkey has been widely received. In Sweden, a Member of Parliament with a Kurdish background Amineh Kakabaveh accuses Sweden of selling Kurds against NATO membership. There are several points in the so-called memorandum of understanding on Kurds and terrorism.
In Finland, sound weights have been more moderate. The president of the Republic Sauli Niinistö recently emphasized that Finland operates in accordance with its own national legislation.
Professor of World Politics at the University of Helsinki Teivo Teivainen on the other hand, he pointed out on Twitter the ambiguity of the document and later in the same chain that some of the wording is awkward for human rights, for example.
There are about 15,000 Kurds in Finland. We asked three of them for their views on the Finnish, Swedish and Turkish Memoranda of Understanding.
“Erdoğan thinks all Kurds are a threat”
Chairman of the Finnish-Kurdish Friendship Society Sabah Abbas Ali is skeptical about the document signed by Finland, Sweden and Turkey.
Among other things, the document states that Finland and Sweden undertake to prevent the activities of the PKK and other terrorist organizations in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. At the same time, they also undertake to prevent the actions of individuals “inspired” by the PKK or other terrorist organizations.
– Finland must now be careful with Turkey’s demands. Measures cannot be based solely on what Turkey lines and who it calls terrorists. We are now waiting for what Finland is really doing, Abbas Ali says in ‘s telephone interview.
Abbas Ali thinks that Turkey and the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğanin The intention is to use the document signed with Finland and Sweden to question the status of the Kurds in other NATO countries as well. In Germany, for example, there are well over half a million Kurds.
At the same time, according to Abbas Ali, Turkey is trying to blur the line between countering the terrorist threat and the regime.
– Erdoğan thinks all Kurds are a threat, no matter where they are. If someone exercises their freedom of speech in Finland, Germany or Norway and opposes the current Turkish regime, Turkey can use this document to put pressure on those countries as well, says Abbas Ali.
The agreement also has an internal political dimension for Erdoğan. It allows him to show his influence as well as the fact that he has succeeded in putting pressure on other countries in the Kurdish affair.
– The NATO slowdown has been a mere bullying of Finland and Sweden because of Turkey’s domestic policy, Abbas Ali says.
Abbas Ali does not take a direct position on the lifting of the arms embargo outlined in the document.
– I hope that Finnish weapons will not be used against the Kurds, he says.
Will Finland’s support for Kurds fighting extremists end?
Chairman of the Finnish Kurdish Association Welat Nehri considers it clear that Finland and Sweden have made concessions to Turkey in the name of NATO membership. Nehri fears that Finland’s support for Kurdish organizations fighting Isis and other extremists will end.
– From the point of view of the situation in the Middle East, it is worrying if Isis and other terrorist groups with the same ideology become stronger in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. It is hoped that NATO and EU countries will support the Kurds in the fight against terrorism.
There is a lot of talk in the Memorandum of Understanding about terrorism. Nehri states that the perception of terrorism in Turkey is quite different from that in the West.
– In Turkey, anyone who criticizes President Erdoğan’s actions and does not act within the framework of the laws he has set is classified as a terrorist. The Kurds have suffered far too much from this.
Nehri says in a telephone interview that Turkey did not reach all its targets. Still, in Turkey, the document has been presented as a victory for Turkey and a defeat for Finland and Sweden.
– There have even been false claims, among other things, that Finland and Sweden would change their legislation and turn the Kurdish YPG and the Gülen organization into a terrorist organization. It has also been claimed there that Finland and Sweden would return the persons required by Turkey.
Nehri believes that Turkey will continue to struggle to join Finland and Sweden in NATO membership negotiations and country-specific ratifications.
– Turkey will monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding as they understand it. They may make arbitrary claims against Finland and Sweden under this Agreement. This is a bigger concern than how the contract is written.
This is how Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) commented on the agreement in Madrid
Finland and Sweden escape intimidation “surprisingly little”
An expert and columnist with a Kurdish background in the Middle East and Islam Seida Sohrabi for its part, welcomes the Memorandum of Understanding at this stage.
– I am positively surprised at how little Finland and Sweden escaped this threat.
In a telephone interview, Sohrabi states that the problems caused by Turkey to Finland and Sweden did not end with the agreement signed yesterday.
– It will surely come up on several occasions that Turkey will interpret the document and its sentences differently than Finland.
Sohrabi interprets that the document does not, for example, deny Finnish and Swedish support to Kurdish organizations operating in Syria.
– In my opinion, this does not mean that Finland and Sweden could not support, for example, the YPG and other Kurdish organizations in Syria in the fight against Isis, which has been supported by the United States and other Western countries.
Sohrabi says the legislation of each country plays a key role in interpreting the content of the agreement.
– It is certain that the sentences on the Finnish side have been thought through really carefully and the passages have been filed. As a whole, this is a document that can be interpreted very broadly.
– There will certainly be different situations and discussions with Turkey. This is not the end of it. There is so much room for interpretation that Turkey will certainly still join forces with Finland and Sweden.
Sohrabi states that the Finnish Kurdish discussion group has asked what Finland and Sweden have given up, that an agreement has been reached. According to Sohrab, the agreement is a cause for concern.
– Members of the Kurdish community are asking what this will really mean in the fight against terrorism. It is at least certain that if support is taken away from Kurdish groups such as the YPG, Isis will raise its head. That is for sure.