Finland’s president and foreign minister expressed optimism about solving ongoing disagreements with Turkey as the country seeks to join NATO.
President Sauli Niinisto said Turkey's concerns about terrorism need to be taken seriously.
"A large amount of Turkish people, ordinary citizens, have lost their lives in terrorist attacks," Niinisto said in an official presidential statement on Wednesday.
"Finland condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and works actively to prevent it. Finland's approach and deeds in fighting terrorism are already now fully aligned with the general line of NATO countries," including the terrorism that Turkey is facing, Niinisto added.
"Also in this respect, the conditions of our membership are met," he said.
Recalling his visit to Turkey in 2015 after twin suicide bombings by the Daesh terror group in the capital Ankara's main train station, the Finnish president said: "We could at close range follow the aftermath of an attack in Ankara; then we wanted to show our compassion to the loved ones of the victims and to condemn the act."
The bloodiest terror attack of Turkish history – carried out by Daesh on Oct. 10, 2015 in the Turkish capital – killed over 100 people and seriously injured 391 others.
Touching on the importance of continued dialogue with Turkey, Niinisto said: "In Finland, an amendment of the criminal code came into force this year. It expands and makes stricter the punishable scope of terrorism crimes.
"I also want to stress that when Finland respects the international human rights principles and the laws that have been derived from them, it is in no way in contradiction with effective counterterrorism measures," he added.
He went on to say: "I can naturally not state the positions of Sweden, but according to my understanding our approaches are quite similar."
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto expressed confidence Wednesday that his country and Turkey would be able to reach a compromise on the Nordic nation's bid to join NATO as well as on the PKK terrorist group and arms trade.
"But of course, this is also a situation where you need goodwill from both sides in these talks," Haavisto told Anadolu Agency (AA) exclusively during a media visit organized by the Finnish Foreign Ministry in Helsinki.
"NATO membership never had more than 30% support among the Finnish population until December, January, and February this year. First, in December, we've of course felt a little bit uncomfortable if it's Russia who decides who can join NATO and who cannot join NATO," Haavisto said.
After Russia's statements against Helsinki's accession to the alliance, Finnish authorities understood that their neighbor did not respect Europe's security architecture, he added.
"And all these triggered in Finland a very rapid process. First change in the public opinion happened quite rapidly in early March. We could see that in opinion polls that more than 50% of the Fins support NATO membership and then maybe 60%," he said.
Haavisto explained that two recent government reports had come before the parliament, the first being about general security changes in Europe without pointing to NATO membership as a goal, while the second directly proposed joining the alliance.
He added that 188 out of 200 parliamentarians voted in favor of NATO membership.
All of these happened in parallel with Sweden, he said, adding that as a result, the two countries decided to deliver their application to NATO on the same day.
Noting that some NATO members, including Turkey, have voiced reservations about the Scandinavian countries' membership, Haavisto said Helsinki needed to "of course, try to convince each and every NATO country that it would be favorable to take Finland and Sweden as members, and we are net contributors to European security."
Stating that Finland allocates more than 2% of its national income to defense issues, Haavisto said they would buy 64 F-35 aircraft from the United States.
He also stressed that Finland's 1,300-kilometer (about 810-mile) border with Russia was a problem that Finland would be bringing to NATO.
The foreign minister also referred to last week's high-level meetings between Finland, Sweden and Turkey in the capital Ankara, where he said the delegations had a "good and deep discussion" that lasted for five hours before returning to Helsinki and Stockholm to "assess the situation."
"So, I'm actually quite confident that there will be a continuation in this process. Of course, there are a variety of issues on the table. There is the issue of the PKK, which we see here in Finland and also in Sweden as a terrorist organization," he said, noting that the PKK is also on the EU's terror list.
"If that has to be written in bigger letters, we can do it, so to say," he added.
Haavisto also underlined that there was the question of deporting some Finnish citizens or dual citizens, adding that this was a matter linked to legal processes and the courts.
"We were a little bit concerned when, for example, in Sweden, there was a request to deport a member of parliament ... We, on these issues, have to follow very strict national legislation."
Regarding arms trade with Turkey, another matter that Ankara has raised, Haavisto said Sweden and Finland were not the only countries to place limitations in this area.
"These three issues have been being discussed and I'm quite confident that we can find some compromise solutions on these. But of course, this is also a situation where you need a goodwill from both sides in these talks," he said.
Finland and Turkey currently have a "negotiation connection" between them, Haavisto said, adding that he had visited the country twice in the spring when he had "excellent talks" in Ankara and the southern resort province of Antalya and got "very positive signals" for Helsinki's NATO membership.
"So, some of these remarks have been very surprising to us, because the earlier communication has been very, very good."
NATO's upcoming summit in Madrid at the end of this month will be a decisive moment, Haavisto said.
"But of course, we are prepared also for the longer timetable if needed, depending then on the NATO countries' process," he said.
He said that for the two countries to join the alliance, all member countries would need to agree on their accession and separately ratify it.
Underlining that a "positive signal" is expected to come out of the NATO summit, Haavisto said: "Then, there is the ratification itself, that we need the ratification of 30 member states."
If everything goes smoothly, he said, they expect to be part of the alliance by late fall and, at the earliest, by October.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO – a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
But Turkey, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to their membership bids, criticizing the Baltic states for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
All 30 NATO states must give their approval before a new member can be admitted and thus benefit from the pact's collective security guarantee.
Haavisto previously said that Finland may give security reassurances to Turkey regarding the PKK terrorist group’s activities in the country, but Turkish officials say no concrete action has been taken so far.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry said Sweden and Finland rejected Ankara’s request for the extradition of people with links to the PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ),
Both of the countries rejected the extradition of 19 terrorists and did not respond to Turkey's request for five others.
Turkey requested the extradition of six FETÖ and six PKK suspects from Finland based on court rulings in the past five years.
The extradition process for nine terrorists, including two in Finland and seven in Sweden, is still ongoing.
Finnish Parliament Speaker Matti Vanhanen recently said his country cannot extradite PKK terrorists, as he called them “innocent people,” despite the fact that the PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
