USA: “We Are Trying To Alleviate The Concerns Of The Turks”

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US Permanent Representative to NATO Ambassador Julianne Smith answered questions at the State Department’s online briefing. Asked how Turkey’s concerns can be addressed in the process of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership, Smith said that besides the tripartite talks, other countries, including the USA, are continuing their dialogue with Turkey.

Smith said, “There are many efforts being carried out in different formats at the moment,” and that the two candidate countries, Sweden and Finland, are working together with Turkey to address Ankara’s concerns. “This is an ongoing trio format,” Smith said. You have seen news that these three countries have come together to address some of the concerns that Ankara has put on the table,” he said.

Ambassador Smith stated that some American officials also made individual efforts by contacting Turkey to understand Ankara’s concerns when the two countries applied for membership.

Stating that the individual efforts of both Washington and other NATO allies continue, Ambassador Smith noted that roundtable meetings were held in NATO on the subject, some of Turkey’s concerns about Finland and Sweden were listened to, and efforts to chart the way continue.

America’s Ambassador to NATO Smith,”Our goal is to see if Sweden and Finland will take part as guests at the Madrid summit. If this happens, the process will continue. We will try to keep participation talks open. We still trust that it will eventually happen. As for the timing, I can’t say for sure. However, behind closed doors, we are trying to alleviate the concerns of the Turks,” he said.

At the briefing, a journalist reminded that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey is ready to suspend the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland for a year, and asked whether this would pose a problem not only for Sweden and Finland, but also for NATO as a whole.

Ambassador Smith stated that NATO allies hope that this will be an issue that can be resolved in weeks or months and not take years. “We all hope to see these two countries together with the leaders of other countries as guests in Madrid, we don’t know whether this hope will come true or not,” he said.

Smith stated that it is encouraging that NATO members are taking steps to accelerate the approval mechanism when the process for the two countries’ accession to the alliance reaches that stage.

‘There is great support in the USA’

Stating that there is strong support in the USA for these two countries to join the alliance, Ambassador said that the Senate gave the message that for this reason, it would be ready to approve new memberships quickly when the time comes.

Smith said, “Once again, behind the scenes at NATO, you continue to see and feel the strong support for these two countries and the desire to move forward as quickly as possible. However, our desire to work together with Turkey to resolve the concerns they have expressed so far continues,” he said.

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