Türkiye expects Sweden and Finland to fulfill their responsibilities under the tripartite agreement in order to welcome them into NATO, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Sunday at a conference with reporters in the southeastern Hatay province, one of the worst-hit cities in the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes.
Ankara has been swarmed by pleas from Swedish, Finnish, as well as NATO officials to greenlight the membership bids of the Nordic countries since they applied to join the bloc last year, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but especially in the past three months, as the widespread presence of members and sympathizers of terrorist groups like the PKK, its Syrian offshoot the YPG and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) aroused security concerns for Türkiye.
A trilateral memorandum the sides inked in Madrid last June won Ankara concrete promises it had demanded, especially in anti-terrorism laws, terrorist extraditions and the lifting of an arms embargo. The deal envisages Finland and Sweden, as future NATO allies, to show full solidarity and cooperation with Türkiye in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, against all threats to its national security.
But Türkiye suspended trilateral talks for the two countries’ applications in late January after Sweden authorized a far-right figure to burn a copy of the Quran under police protection in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm and allowed PKK terrorist sympathizers to hold anti-Türkiye rallies.
Ankara’s insistent call for consideration of its concerns has been at times interpreted as an “unwillingness” to support NATO and “deliberately blocking” its enlargement.
Many Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have consistently denied such claims, with Akar himself on Sunday reiterating, “We have never been against NATO’s open-door policy.”
“Türkiye has been where it always has been. We’re not against Sweden or Finland’s NATO memberships but we have a fight against terrorism that has been ongoing for more than 40 years and we only expect everyone, if not as strongly as us, to show a little sensitivity and care about this matter,” Akar said.
He contended that the Nordic nations’ right to defense was “respectable” but stressed that Türkiye expects Stockholm and Helsinki to “know our fight against terrorism is also respectable and act accordingly by fulfilling their commitments.”
Pointing to Sweden and Finland’s restrictions on certain export items as an “unfortunate” move that “should not happen between two friendly nations,” Akar went on to say: “On one hand, Türkiye wants to help bolster NATO, wants each member state to be powerful. On the other hand, it’s unacceptable for us that our operations made in order to strengthen our country and armed forces are prevented by such friendly and ally countries.”
“To conclude, we want Finland and Sweden to fulfill their responsibilities and commitments here,” Akar said.
Asked on whether Finland and Sweden are “different” in any way, Akar said, “Finland moves a bit faster than Sweden. We could say Finland has come a little closer to us in terms of fulfilling the terms of the deal but I believe Sweden needs to act a bit more swiftly.”
Akar further condemned the burning of the Quran, saying such incidents highlighted the fact that not only Türkiye but billions of people around the world have religious values.
“Therefore, we expect these governments not to allow slanders and take measures against any hostility shown toward these values under the pretext of ‘freedom.’ They must see that this is very problematic, a great disrespect, a sign of a major moral and legal problem,” Akar said.
“Problems like these need to be fixed immediately and that’s why negotiations were suspended for a while, but as is known, a meeting took place in Brussels recently on a technical level. Türkiye expects these meetings to continue and Finland and Sweden to fulfill their promises,” he concluded, referring to the third round of talks between the sides last Thursday, after which Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın too said, “The steps Sweden and Finland will take from now on will determine the speed and scope of the process.”
As for Türkiye’s diplomatic rapprochement with archrival Greece in the wake of the Feb. 6 earthquakes that left nearly 48,000 people dead, Akar noted that the sides were working to resolve standing issues through “good neighborly relations in line with international law.”
“We have always expressed that we’re on the side of dialogue and ready to talk or visit whenever they extend an invitation,” Akar said.
He revealed that he and his Greek counterpart held a phone call most recently following the disaster in Türkiye and the deadly train crash in Greece. “We had a constructive, positive dialogue over the phone. There has been positive mutual diplomacy and we had the chance to convey once again we are open for talks and dialogue,” Akar said.
