Türkiye can begin ratifying Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership applications, according to Sweden’s Foreign Minister, because the two Nordic nations “have met the commitments” they had agreed on with Ankara.
"We believe we have now reached a point where Sweden and Finland have done what we committed ourselves to in this (trilateral) memorandum and it is time for the Turkish Parliament to begin the ratification process," Tobias Billström told Reuters on Tuesday in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
"We believe very strongly that we have done what was being asked and we do not see any reason for the ratification not to start.”
Billström's remarks came amid escalating tensions between Ankara and Stockholm.
For the past week, the Nordic country has been drawing Türkiye’s ire by failing to take legal steps after a group of PKK supporters hung an effigy of Erdoğan in the capital during a provocative rally, which many officials condemned as a “racist propaganda” and argued that it was a “concrete display” of Sweden’s failure to adhere to its NATO deal.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the European Union, the U.K. and the United States and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Since officially applying for membership in May 2022, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland have been striving and struggling to secure Türkiye’s approval for joining the bloc. The Turkish government is objecting to their accession on the grounds of security concerns, namely “harboring and tolerating” terrorist groups like the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) the sides inked at a NATO summit in Madrid stipulates that the two countries take concrete steps to address the said concerns, increase their crackdown on terrorist organizations like the PKK and FETÖ and deport people suspected of terrorism-related crimes.
Türkiye has provided a list of wanted individuals for Sweden and expects the Scandinavian nation to take swift action to show that its demands are being met.
To garner Ankara’s hard-earned approval, Stockholm extradited three people, including a PKK terrorist member, to Türkiye in early December. Ankara welcomed the development but said it “wasn’t enough” for a greenlight. As of the new year, Sweden has taken into effect a constitutional amendment that enables “greater possibilities to make use of legal means to limit freedom of association for groups that engage in or support terrorism.” The country is also expected to implement further amendments for improving counterterrorism efforts on July 1.
Türkiye has praised these steps taken by Sweden and some others by Finland but says the countries need to do more, particularly in the wake of the provocative demonstration from PKK supporters directly threatening the Turkish president and another court ruling against the extradition of four other suspected terrorists.
In the meantime, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has claimed there were “no major issues” with her country’s accession to NATO, “maybe some with Sweden."
The process should have been faster, she told a panel at Davos, adding that both countries are fully prepared and have ticked all boxes.
Asked if there are any obstacles, such as Türkiye's objections over its security concerns, she said: "There isn't that big of an issue with Finland, maybe some with Sweden. But from our perspective, it's very important that Sweden and Finland are going to NATO together because we are sharing the same security environment."
"We are still waiting for the two countries. One of them is Hungary, which will ratify as soon as their parliamentary period begins," Marin said.
"Türkiye, that's another matter. We discussed and agreed at the NATO summit on the steps that we will take and we have taken those steps. Now we are waiting for Türkiye to ratify," she noted.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar too reiterated this week Ankara’s calls to Sweden and Finland to fulfill their commitments under the memorandum.
He also said there were plans underway for Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Johnson's potential visit to Türkiye.
“We’re monitoring the process and following developments will determine (the meeting),” Akar informed.
