Türkiye 'will not allow fait accompli targeting its national security'
ANKARA
Greece’s “provocative” actions, rhetoric and efforts for armament will not provide any benefit beyond increasing the tension in the region, a National Security Council (MGK) statement said on Jan. 25.
Türkiye will not allow any sort of fait accompli that targets its national security and interests, the council said following a meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Türkiye supports NATO’s open-door policy, but the countries aiming to join the bloc need to abide by the spirit and laws of the alliance, the MGK statement said.
“Countries willing to join NATO must act in accordance with the law and spirit of the alliance,” the statement said.
It is “imperative for Sweden and Finland to fulfill obligations under the June 2022 trilateral memorandum in fighting terror groups with concrete steps,” it added.
The council also strongly condemned recent “heinous attacks” on the Quran.
“The heinous attacks, which are a manifestation of anti-Islamic racism and target the sacred values of billions of people, have been strongly condemned,” the statement said.
The council reminded that those who undermine values such as freedom of religion, conscience and thought, and encourage and protect actions that cannot be explained by democracy and freedom of expression, are partners in this hate crime that disregards human rights.
The “terrorist organization PKK/KCK-PYD/YPG” and its supporters constitute the biggest obstacle to the peace, tranquility and prosperity of the Syrian people, and the elimination of terrorist organizations and reaching an inclusive and holistic solution based on Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty will lead to permanent peace, the statement said.
Çavuşoğlu: Sweden must give a decision
In the meantime, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, at a joint press conference with visiting Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, repeated Ankara’s reaction to anti-Turkish and anti-Islam incidents in Stockholm, stressing all these things were distancing Sweden away from the NATO membership.
“Sweden must give a decision. It will either clear the mines planted by these groups or will step on one of these mines,” Çavuşoğlu said. Türkiye canceled a planned three-way meeting with two NATO aspirant countries, Sweden and Finland, he recalled, “Such a meeting would have neither importance nor meaning. We postponed it because the current environment would cast a shadow on it.”
Sweden has to fulfill all the items listed in the trilateral memorandum of understanding but what it has done so far is far from being sufficient, Çavuşoğlu said.
On a question, he said Ankara did not receive any formal application for the separation of the Swedish and Finnish accession process into NATO.
The minister also criticized Israel for killing at least nine Palestinians in an attack. “We demand the Israeli government to give up these kinds of attacks and provocations. We extend our condolences to our brothers who have lost their lives,” he said.