Istanbul, Stockholm Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given the green light for Finland to join NATO. At a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö in Ankara, Erdogan stated that Finland had taken the necessary steps to ensure Turkey’s security interests.
Therefore, his country will initiate the ratification process. The Turkish parliament wants to vote on March 27, Erdogan said.
Discussions with Sweden about joining NATO would continue. Nevertheless, Erdogan renewed his criticism of Sweden in dealing with members of the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, who live in exile in Sweden.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in 2022 after Russia attacked Ukraine. For this to happen, all 30 member states of the alliance would have to agree. With the exception of Turkey and Hungary, all NATO members have given the green light for the two northern European countries to join.
While Hungary plans to agree to the requests, according to unconfirmed reports later this month, Turkey has issued conditions including the resumption of arms deliveries and the extradition of Turkish nationals wanted in Turkey as terrorists. Finland and Sweden have signed an agreement with Turkey to overcome Ankara’s objections.
At the end of March, the Turkish parliament is to vote on whether the country will accept Finland’s entry into NATO.
(Photo: AP)
While Turkey signaled a few weeks ago that it would agree to Finland joining the North Atlantic alliance, Erdogan has repeatedly expressed criticism of Sweden joining NATO. The reason for this was the burning of the Koran by a right-wing extremist politician and the hanging of an Erdogan-like doll in front of Stockholm City Hall.
Erdogan repeatedly criticizes Sweden sharply
Erdogan also accused Sweden of harboring “terrorists”. He meant members of the PKK, which is banned in the EU, and demanded the extradition of around 130 members of this group. Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson then admitted almost resignedly that Turkey “wants to have things that we cannot or do not want to give”.
But he also said: “We are convinced that Turkey will decide on ratification, we just don’t know when”. According to most observers, it now looks as if Sweden will have to wait a few more months for Ankara’s approval. It may not even work out until the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
Until recently, the governments in Helsinki and Stockholm had repeatedly emphasized their desire for joint accession. Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Swedish counterpart Kristersson emphasized that they wanted to join the alliance “hand in hand”.
Sweden and Finland had long emphasized that they wanted to join NATO together.
(Photo: AP)
When it became increasingly clear that joint accession would not be possible, Kristersson prepared his compatriots for subsequent Swedish accession. “The chances of earlier Finnish accession have increased, but we are prepared for this situation,” he said this week.
The fact that Finland does not want to wait any longer for Sweden to join NATO is mainly due to the geopolitical situation. The country has a border with Russia that is more than 1,300 kilometers long and feels threatened after the illegal attack on Ukraine. NATO has repeatedly emphasized the importance of Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
Finland in particular would significantly strengthen NATO with 23,000 professional soldiers and 280,000 conscripts. The country also has 870,000 reservists. Sweden has significantly less active armed forces but boasts Gotland, the largest Baltic Sea island, which is of enormous strategic importance in controlling the Baltic Sea and in the eventual defense of the Baltic countries.
The fact that Erdogan wants to agree to Finland’s accession right now also has something to do with the election campaign in his country. In the past, the head of state has chosen anti-Western rhetoric to rally nationalist voters behind him. After a devastating series of earthquakes in the southeast of the country that killed more than 48,000 people, Erdogan was also criticized for the initially weak crisis management.
Turkey faces west
But right now, with his approval, Erdogan is making a foreign policy swing – towards the West and NATO.
The Finnish Army has over 800,000 reservists.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
This applies not only to Finland’s entry into the alliance. Since the war broke out, Turkey had made hundreds of millions of dollars selling sanctioned goods through its territory to Russia, along with other countries such as Armenia. For a few days, however, Turkish customs authorities have been stopping the uncontrolled transit of western goods via Turkey to Russia. Earlier, EU and US officials had been pressuring Turkey for months.
>> Read also: Turkey halts transit of sanctioned goods to Russia
The sudden shift to the western course must also be seen in the light of Turkey’s relations with Russia. Turkey had taken a neutral stance, especially at the beginning of the war. In 2022, millions of Russians were allowed to vacation in Turkey, while their entry into most European countries was forbidden.
Turkey also imported a lot of gas from Russia – at a reduced price. Bilateral trade between Turkey and Russia had tripled in the first year of the war.
However, contrary to many attempts at an explanation, this was less due to an anti-Western attitude than to other considerations. The government in Ankara wanted to minimize the political and financial impact of the war on Turkey and save jobs at home. With its mediating role, Turkey was also able to prove that, as a middle power, it can contribute to conflict resolution.
Ankara is acting opportunistically
But the longer the war dragged on, the more blurred the benefits of Turkey’s neutral stance became. Besides, no one can say how long the war will last. It has thus once again become opportune for the Erdogan government to turn more to the West.
The advantages of this cooperation are obvious. Taken together, Europe and the USA are still by far Turkey’s largest trading partner. And despite all the disputes, NATO is also a reliable guarantee of security for Turkey.
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