MESOP MIDEAST WATCH: NATO VOTES PRO ERDOGAN AND CONTRA KURDISH DEMOCRATIC RESISTANCE IN TURKEY
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg met Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu yesterday (November 3) in İstanbul. 4-11-22
About the Nordic countries’ NATO bids, the secretary-general said, “Finland and Sweden have delivered on the Memorandum and are committed to the long-term partnership with Türkiye,” referring to a tripartite memorandum signed in June to address Ankara’s “security concerns.”
“This week I have spoken to the leadership of both Finland and Sweden. And I welcome the major, concrete actions taken by both countries to put the Memorandum into practice.
“Finland and Sweden have significantly increased cooperation with Türkiye to counter-terrorism. And a Permanent Joint Mechanism has been established.
“Sweden is passing new legislation prohibiting participation in terrorist organizations, including the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party]. And strengthening the tools on terrorist financing.
“More extraditions and expulsions are taking place. And restrictions on arms sales to Türkiye have ended.”
Çavuşoğlu: Sweden is more determined now
For his part, Minister Çavuşoğlu said, “Finland and Sweden express their commitment to the trilateral memorandum. What is important is the concrete implementation of the elements in the memorandum.
“We knew that the previous government couldn’t take serious steps, but we see that the new government is more determined.
“As the secretary-general said, Sweden’s lifting of the arms embargo against Türkiye is an important step. They even positively evaluated the applications of a couple of companies [from Türkiye].
“On the other hand, they made changes to law. However, right now it’s not possible to say that all elements in the memorandum are implemented by these two countries.”
Sweden’s PM will visit Türkiye
The minister further said that Sweden’s recently elected PM, Ulf Kristersson, will visit President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on November 8.
“We will have the opportunity to discuss these issues with them. There was also an expert-level mechanism established between the three countries. The first meeting was held in Helsinki. The next meeting will be held in Stockholm.
“I think that meeting will be useful in terms of reviewing the steps taken and to be taken.”
What happened?
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
However, Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the two countries for tolerating and even supporting “terrorist groups.”
The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding at NATO’s June summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People’s Defense Units (YPG), which Türkiye sees as the PKK’s extensions in Syria.
The Nordic countries also agreed to address Ankara’s pending deportation or extradition requests.
Türkiye’s parliament must ratify the country’s approval for Finland and Sweden’s membership for them to join NATO.
In September, Sweden lifted restrictions on arms sales to Türkiye, which was among Ankara’s demands in order to approve its NATO bid.