More talks needed for Nordics’ NATO bid: Turkish FM

ISTANBUL

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Türkiye to set aside its reservations over Finland and Sweden’s intention to join the alliance, insisting the Nordic countries have done enough to satisfy Ankara’s concerns about their membership. But Ankara responded to the NATO chief that the trilateral memorandum was fully implemented to ratify their NATO bid.

“I recognize your concerns,” Stoltenberg told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Nov. 3.

He said Finland and Sweden were keen to work closer with Türkiye to fight “terrorism.”

It’s also in their interest, he said and added, “It’s time to welcome Finland and Sweden as full members of NATO. Their accession will make our alliance stronger and our people safer.”

Stoltenberg said it was important to finalize the membership bids to send a “clear message to Russia.”

“In these dangerous times, it is even more important to finalize their accession to prevent any misunderstanding or miscalculation by Moscow and to send a clear message to Russia that NATO’s door remains open,” he said.

“Finland and Sweden have delivered on their agreement to Türkiye,” Stoltenberg said.

“They have become a strong partner in our joint fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. And they are clearly committed to long-term engagement with Türkiye to address your security concerns,” the NATO chief stated.

Both countries dropped decades of military non-alignment and scrambled to become NATO members in May after Russia invaded Ukraine. Ankara has accused the two Nordic nations of providing a safe haven to the illegal PKK and FETÖ. To date, all but Türkiye and Hungary of the 30 NATO member states have ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland. New members to the alliance require unanimous approval.

Çavuşoğlu said Stockholm took some steps, including the removal of restrictions standing in the way of arms sales to Türkiye, but added that it was not possible to say the July agreement was fully implemented.

“Some steps in the triple memorandum have been taken but cannot be said to be fully implemented. We want to see concrete steps in the fight against terrorism from the two countries. Lifting the arms embargo is important, but it needs to be permanent,” the minister stated.

“We don’t intend to harm NATO or block its enlargement,” the minister said and noted that Ankara was “more hopeful” that Sweden’s new government will address Türkiye’s concerns.

Sweden’s new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson would visit Ankara on Nov. 8 for further talks, the foreign minister said. NATO accession is a priority for Sweden’s new right-wing government.

Stoltenberg was scheduled to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on late Nov. 4.