President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would meet with Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Istanbul on Friday. The leaders will discuss all aspects of bilateral relations and steps that can be taken to improve cooperation.
According to the statement, they will also exchange views on last year’s NATO Madrid summit, Finland’s NATO membership bid, Türkiye-EU relations, and regional and international issues.
On Wednesday, Erdoğan said they would “fulfill their pledge” to Finland during the visit. Though he did not elaborate, Ankara will likely greenlight ratification of Finland’s NATO members, ahead of Sweden, which hoped to join the alliance with the Nordic country.
Last June, Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden signed a memorandum at a NATO summit in Madrid to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership. The memorandum addresses Türkiye’s concerns, including arms exports and the fight against terrorism.
To approve their NATO membership bids, Ankara demands the two Nordic countries take concrete actions to combat terrorist groups PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye. However, Sweden is seen as not doing enough to gain Türkiye’s approval.
After a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the president told reporters they would conduct the “necessary process.” “We will undertake what our duty is and fulfill our pledge after meeting with (Mr.) President,” he added.
On Wednesday, two Turkish officials told Reuters that the country’s Parliament would "likely" ratify Finland’s NATO accession bid before it closes in mid-April.
One senior official said that Finland’s bid would be approved independently from that of Sweden, which had simultaneously applied for membership in the Western military alliance as its Nordic neighbor after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Talks between Sweden and Türkiye have made little progress, especially following several disputes, mainly over demonstrations by PKK supporters in Stockholm.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Tuesday that the likelihood of Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden had increased after talks between the three sides in Brussels this week.
“We are looking favorably at Finland’s accession. It would not be wrong to say that accession talks will be held at different times than Sweden,” one Turkish senior official said.
Another official with knowledge of the matter said Finland’s approach to terrorist groups was in line with Türkiye’s sensitivities and that Helsinki had taken steps in that regard. “It is highly likely that the necessary step for Finland’s NATO membership will be completed before (parliament) closes and the election is held,” the official said.
Both officials declined to be named because the discussions are not public yet.
Parliament is due to close in mid-April ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for May 14. “Positive messages will be given to Finland’s president during his visit,” the second official said. The parliaments of all 30 members of NATO must ratify any membership bids for the alliance. Türkiye and Hungary are the only NATO allies that have not yet confirmed the membership of Finland and Sweden.
The United States and other NATO countries hope that the two Nordic countries become members of the alliance at a NATO summit due to be held on July 11 in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.
Erdoğan in January signaled Ankara might agree to admit Finland to NATO ahead of Sweden as tensions with the latter reached a climax in the past few weeks over anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam attacks on the country’s soil. “We may deliver Finland a different message (on their NATO application), and Sweden would be shocked when they see our message. But Finland should not make the same mistake Sweden did,” Erdoğan said in a televised speech back then.
He also repeated his demand for Sweden to hand over suspects sought by Ankara. “If you absolutely want to join NATO, you will return these terrorists to us,” Erdoğan said. “We gave Sweden a list of 120 people and told them to extradite those terrorists in their country. If you don’t extradite them, then sorry about that,” Erdoğan added.
Sweden has approved a constitutional amendment that enables it to enact stricter anti-terror laws demanded by Ankara. However, Türkiye suspended NATO talks with Sweden and Finland last week after a protest in Stockholm where a far-right politician burned a copy of the Quran. Ankara has also been outraged by a Swedish prosecutor’s decision not to press charges against PKK terrorist sympathizers that hung an effigy of Erdoğan by its ankles outside Stockholm City Court. The desecration of the Quran prompted strong protests in the Muslim world, with Türkiye calling Paludan an “Islam-hating charlatan” and strongly condemning the permission given by authorities for the provocative act, which it said, “clearly constitutes a hate crime.”
The standoff between Ankara and Stockholm prompted Finnish officials to hint for the first time in January that they might be forced to seek NATO membership without Sweden.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and need all member countries’ approval to join. Türkiye and Hungary are yet to ratify the Nordic countries’ membership. Ankara said Sweden must first take a more explicit stance against terrorists. Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement but criticizes Stockholm for not acting against elements posing a security threat to Ankara.
