Ankara 12 August : Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday urged Finland and Sweden to take “concrete steps” regarding their commitments that must be fulfilled prior to their admission to NATO. “They haven’t yet fulfilled their obligations as stated in the documents (to join NATO),” Cavusoglu addressed the annual conference of Ambassadors that was held in the capital city of Ankara to discuss Turkish foreign policy.
Finland and Sweden were the first to decide to join NATO following the beginning of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine on February 24.
However, their bid to join was initially stopped by Turkey and Turkey, who accused both countries of aiding terrorist groups following their refusal of Ankara’s requests for extradition of suspects who are associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as well as the Gulen movement.
Three countries signed an agreement of agreement (MoU) on June 28,, which addressed the concerns of Turkey at the NATO summit in Madrid, in which Finland and Sweden agreed to aid Ankara’s fight against terrorism .They also agreed to deal with its “pending requests for extradition or deportation of terror suspects swiftly and with a complete understanding”.
The member states of NATO including Turkey have signed accession protocols for Sweden and Finland in the beginning of July, and began the process to allow both Nordic countries to the alliance’s military.
Next step is to have the parliaments of all NATO members to approve their membership in NATO.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in July that Turkey would end Finland as well as Sweden’s NATO membership if they did not keep their the commitments made regarding counter-terrorism.
“We would like to know why the steps that are required aren’t being taken.There is no deadline for us.Of course, we face time pressure to resolve the issue of terror but ultimately, they will be the countries that would like to join NATO.NATO members.” Cavusoglu told reporters on Thursday.
The PKK is classified as an terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the US and the European Union, has been in rebellion against the Turkish government for more than three decades.
The Gulen movement is founded by and named after the American-based Muslim pastor Fethullah Gulen who is considered by his followers as spiritual leader.
The Turkish government accuses the group of being behind the failed 2016 coup in which at the least 250 people were killed.
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