Turkey says Nordics should change laws if needed to meet NATO demands

Ankara/Helsinki: Finland and Sweden must change their laws to meet Turkey’s demands and garner their support for their bid to join NATO, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Tuesday in a landmark alliance of the coalition. Doubled down on the threat of vetoing the expansion.
In a move that shocked its allies, Turkey on 13 May objected to Finland and Sweden joining NATO on the grounds that they harbor people affiliated with groups, including the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Terrorists believe, and because they stopped arms exports to Turkey. in 2019. The Nordic states applied to join NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
All 30 NATO members must approve any expansion plans.
Mevlut Kavusoglu said Turkey, a member of NATO for seven decades, would not lift its veto until its demands were met, echoing recent comments by President Tayyip Erdogan.
Ankara has said that Sweden and Finland should stop their support for the PKK and other groups, prevent them from organizing any events on their territory, extradite those sought by Turkey on terrorism charges, Ankara’s military and support counter-terrorist operations and lift all arms exports. Sanctions.
Finland and Sweden have sought to negotiate a solution and other NATO capitals have said they are confident that objections raised by Turkey – which has NATO’s second largest army – can be overcome.
Cavusoglu said Turkey had given documents to Finnish and Swedish delegations outlining the demands during talks in Ankara last week and it was awaiting their response, adding that he hoped allies would be able to address security concerns. will work for
Are our demands impossible? No. We want them to stop their support for terror,” Kavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu news agency, adding that Ankara knew some of its demands would require an amendment to the laws.
“They put it this way: ‘Since we are so far away from terrorist zones, our laws are designed that way. Well then you need to replace them,” he said. “They say terrorist organization is allowed to organize events and make their own rumblings. Then you have to change your law.”
The Nordic states have said they condemn terrorism and are ready to negotiate.
Cavusoglu said that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was working on the issue and proposed talks with the three countries in Brussels, but said Ankara did not mind before Stockholm and Helsinki responded to their written demands. saw.
“There needs to be concrete things for us to discuss,” he said.
Earlier, Erdogan’s communications director Fahrettin Altun told Finland’s largest daily Helsingin Sanomat that Finland should take Turkey’s concerns seriously.
“Ultimately, the government of Finland will have to decide which is more important – joining NATO or protecting these types of organizations,” he said, referring to the PKK and other groups that Ankara considers terrorists.