Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen is going to pay an official visit to Türkiye and meet with Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Thursday to discuss the trilateral NATO deal, while Ankara reiterated that it expects the Nordic duo to take concrete steps.
During talks in the capital Ankara, Akar and Kaikkonen will discuss bilateral defense and security issues and Finland's NATO membership process.
Touching upon the issue, Akar said Tuesday that Türkiye expects Sweden and Finland to take "concrete steps" to become NATO members as terror propaganda in these countries is still ongoing.
"We are closely following the situation in Sweden and Finland. Unfortunately, we still see some provocative actions and images in these countries. We expect both Sweden and Finland to take concrete steps," Akar told reporters.
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment, a decision spurred by Russia's war against Ukraine. But Türkiye, a NATO member for more than 70 years, voiced objections to their membership bids, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups. Türkiye has demanded the Nordic countries take a tougher stance on terrorist groups in exchange for its backing.
Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum in June at a NATO summit to address Ankara's legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests for people Ankara deems terrorists. Sweden and Finland said they "confirm" the PKK is a terrorist organization and promised "to not provide support" to its Syrian affiliate YPG. They also lifted an arms embargo on Türkiye that was imposed following its 2019 Syria operation against the PKK/YPG.
The Parliaments of Türkiye and Hungary have yet to ratify the NATO applications. The 28 other NATO states have already done so. Any decision on NATO enlargement requires approval by all alliance members.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Türkiye last month and pledged to work toward countering terrorism threats to Türkiye.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have warned that Türkiye will not give the nod to the memberships of Sweden and Finland until the memorandum is implemented.
"There are commitments signed by Sweden and Finland ... they must be fulfilled ... the memorandum is a beginning, not an end. After these are done, the Turkish Parliament will make its decision. We are also trying to help Sweden and Finland," Akar added.
Türkiye does not have a problem with NATO's open-door policy, but the country's sensitivities should be respected.
"Terrorism is one of NATO's biggest areas of struggle. Terrorism is a serious problem for all countries right now. Türkiye is the only country fighting more than one terrorist organization. This needs to be seen and the awareness of what we do on this issue needs to be increased," Akar added.
In another comment, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also said Tuesday that Türkiye expects Finland to lift an arms embargo, as part of steps Ankara expects before approving Helsinki and Stockholm's NATO membership bids.
Speaking at a news conference, Çavuşoğlu also said an alleged PKK member who was extradited from Sweden to Türkiye at the weekend was not on the list of people Ankara wanted from Stockholm.
Sweden's extradition to Türkiye last week of a convicted PKK terrorist is a "good start," but Stockholm needs to do more before Ankara can approve its NATO membership, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Monday.
Sweden on Friday deported Turkish citizen Mahmut Tat, who had sought asylum in Sweden in 2015 after being sentenced in Türkiye to six years and 10 months in jail for links to the PKK terrorist group. A Turkish court on Saturday jailed the convicted member of the PKK terrorist group a day after Sweden extradited him.
The move comes as the powerful NATO member continues to hold up Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the military alliance, pressing for the two Nordic countries to extradite convicted and suspected terrorists to Türkiye.
Ankara has said it expects Stockholm to take action on issues including the extradition of criminals and freezing of terrorist assets. It remains to be seen how Sweden will implement its promises under the trilateral agreement.
Swedish Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard meanwhile stressed that Tat’s extradition was a decision taken by the Scandinavian country’s migration board and courts, and not by the government.