Ankara expects Finland to support Türkiye’s fight against terror: Minister

ANKARA

Ankara expects its allies, especially Finland, to support Türkiye’s fight against terrorism and the modernization efforts of its army, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said after meeting with his Finnish counterpart Antti Kaikkonen on Dec. 8 amid the Nordic country, with Sweden, making efforts to convince Ankara of its bid to join NATO.

“We expect all our allies, especially Finland, to support and contribute to Türkiye’s fight against terrorism and the modernization efforts of the Turkish Armed Forces,” he said at a joint press conference with the Finnish minister in the capital Ankara.

The visit comes as Ankara voiced Türkiye’s expectation from Finland to end its arms embargo on the country.

“We expect Finland to announce that it ends its arms embargo against Türkiye. They have not done so,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Dec. 5.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. But objections from Ankara, which accuses Finland and Sweden of providing a safe haven for the PKK terror group, caught them off guard.

Türkiye, Sweden and Finland signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding about the two Nordic states’ joining the alliance during NATO’s Madrid Summit in late June.

The protocol stipulates Sweden and Finland to cooperate with Türkiye in its fight against terror organizations, ban the activities of these organizations and extradite the terrorists. The deal also envisages the Nordic countries to lift arms embargo on Türkiye that was imposed following its 2019 Syria operation against the YPG group.

Even after Sweden and Finland were formally invited, Ankara has insisted it could still block entry into the Western alliance if it feels the Nordic countries fail to deliver on their promises.

Twenty-eight NATO allies out of 30 have already ratified their accession to the alliance. Hungary is expected to pledge parliamentary approval in early 2023.

Sweden has recently extradited a PKK terrorist to Türkiye. Ankara welcomed the move but asked for more to be done.

The Swedish authority tasked with controlling exports of war materials said on Sept. 30 it had authorized military exports to Türkiye, after blocking them in 2019.

“The government has made the assessment that a Swedish membership in NATO is the best way to protect Sweden’s and the Swedish people’s security,” the Inspectorate of Strategic Products said in a statement.

Speaking before the visit on Dec. 6, Akar reiterated Türkiye’s compliance with NATO’s open-door policy that envisages enlargement with the countries that can contribute to the alliance’s collective security. But he said Türkiye was expecting that its sensitivities should be respected by NATO and those who want to join it.

“NATO is a security organization. One of its biggest struggles is against terrorism. Terror is a serious problem for all countries. And Türkiye is a country that is fighting against multiple terror organizations. This must be seen and awareness on what we are doing should be increased,” he said.