Helsinki does not share Ankara’s view that the PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing, the YPG, is part of the terrorist organization, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Tuesday.
Speaking on the NATO accession process of his country, Haavisto told the German Tagesspiegel that the focus in discussions with Türkiye was on the PKK.
“Ankara wants to expand the terrorism label also to other groups,” Haavisto said, referring to the YPG.
Haavisto reiterated that Finland lifted its arms embargo on Türkiye but that: “We decide which weapons we supply. It’s the same with deportations. We cooperate with Türkiye but decide under the rule of law which we extradite.”
In a historic turnaround, Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military non-alliance and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A trilateral memorandum the sides inked in Madrid last June won Ankara concrete promises it had demanded, especially in counterterrorism laws, terrorist extraditions and the lifting of an arms embargo. In addition, 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.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Ankara ratified Finland’s membership in March, enabling it to become a full member of the defense alliance this week.
Asked whether Finland left Sweden alone in the process, Haavisto said that the two countries envisaged entering the military alliance together but that it would not serve Sweden if Finland said "no" to membership alone.
