Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated at a press conference that Turkey will not support Finland’s and Sweden’s application to NATO.
Pirkko Pöntinen,
Tom Kankkonen
16.5. 14:43 • Updated May 16th. 22:14
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan still does not intend to support Finland and Sweden as members of the military alliance NATO.
According to news agencies, Erdoğan said directly at a press conference today on Monday that Finland and Sweden should not send their representatives to persuade Turkey to support its NATO applications.
“We are not saying ‘yes’ to countries applying for NATO membership that have sanctions against Turkey,” Erdoğan told AFP.
Yesterday, Turkey presented a list of demands that Finland and Sweden should end their support for terrorist organizations, provide security guarantees and lift export bans on Turkey.
– Neither of these countries has a clear position on terrorist organizations, so how could they be trusted, Erdoğan asked at a press conference.
In Turkey, government-controlled media strongly criticize Sweden for supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK and Syrian Kurdish guerrillas.
According to Turkey, the Kurdish guerrillas in Syria are a direct continuation of the PKK, ie terrorists.
Most of the Turkish press and major TV channels support the government and there are only remnants of independent media left.
Criticism of Sweden and Finland has escalated since the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey did not welcome Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership at this stage.
Turkey urges Finland and Sweden to extradite “terrorists”
Veteran editor of Sabah magazine Mehmet Barlas is a faithful president Erdoğanin defender.
According to Barlas, the PKK and the Imam reside in Sweden Fethullah Gülenin supporters pose a serious problem. Imam Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the United States, was an ally of Erdoğan for a long time, but the men quarreled.
Gülen is accused of leading the coup in 2016, and Turkey claims Gylen’s supporters form the Fetö terrorist organization.
Numerous followers of Gülen also live in Finland. Both Finland and Sweden are now being criticized for not extraditing people who are considered terrorists by Turkey.
Turkey also demanded the extradition of the Finnish citizen
In the case of Finland, it is said that two extradition requests are still pending.
In at least one previous case, according to ‘s information, Turkey has also demanded the extradition of a person who has acquired Finnish citizenship. This is a dual citizen.
“Turkish siege to be prevented”
In Turkey, stories of extensive conspiracy theories are popular.
Yeni Şafak (switch to another service)columnist, Seyfi Öğünin believes that the planning of the war in Ukraine may have already begun Barack Obaman and NATO enlargement is part of a broader plan. In addition, Turkey is also the target of a Western siege project, which also includes support for Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq and Syria.
By halting Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO membership, the big plan can be thwarted.
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto gets an understanding of its calm approach and the assessment that problems can be solved, although it can take time.
Turkey wants Kurds to control and arms
Turkish newspapers reiterate that Turkey has two main goals related to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership. Support for “terrorism” must be stopped and, in addition, arms embargoes must be lifted.
TV channel A-haberin website (go to another service) a report on Swedish support for “terrorist organizations” has been published. There are pictures of demonstrations in Sweden showing other prisoners of the PKK. Abdullah Öcalanin pictures. The artwork is apparently out of stock because at least one picture is from Germany.
Finland’s sin is to suspend arms exports to Turkey as a result of the invasion of Syrian Kurdish areas.
Sweden is accused of basing the PKK
Several Western countries have links to the Kurdish regime in northern Syria, which is considered a valuable ally in the fight against the extremist Isis.
The United States also has troops in northeastern Syria. Quite a large part of Turkey’s anger is directed at the United States, but Finland and Sweden are at least partly substitute victims.
Sweden is the most criticized in the analyzes on the SETA website, which is in line with the Turkish government. Investigator Ferhat Pirinççi writes (go to another service)that Finland may have to be looked at separately from Sweden, even though there are politicians in Finland who say he has sympathy for the PKK.
However, Pirinççi believes that relations between Finland and Turkey are better, and Finland does not support the PKK in the same way as Sweden.
Mr Pirinççi believes that Turkey will eventually bow to enlargement, but at the same time recalls the consequences of a country’s support for terrorist organizations fighting Turkey, as he puts it.