NATO: in Ankara, Turkey reiterates its position to the Swedish and Finnish emissaries
The spokesperson for the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin, at a press conference this Wednesday, May 25, 2022, after discussions on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, with the emissaries from Stockholm and Helsinki sent to Ankara .
AFP - ADEM ALTAN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Sweden and Finland, which wish to join NATO, dispatched delegations to Turkey on Wednesday, May 25, the only member of the Atlantic Alliance which strongly opposes their membership at this stage.
At the end of the meeting, on the Turkish side, the tone was rather positive, while remaining intransigent.
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With our correspondent in Istanbul,
Anne Andlauer
From Ankara's point of view, this
meeting
should serve to put on the table its expectations vis-à-vis Stockholm and Helsinki.
As a reminder, Turkey notably
criticizes
the two Nordic countries for showing leniency towards members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG.
There was talk, among other things, of the extradition of people considered "terrorists" by the Turkish authorities, and the lifting of the embargo on the sale of arms which hits Turkey.
On this last point, Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, welcomed the “
positive attitude
” of his interlocutors.
But he wanted to be inflexible.
"
We have conveyed this message very clearly: as long as Turkey does not obtain a response to the security concerns it expresses, through concrete gestures and according to a certain timetable, the process cannot move forward
", has Mr. Kalin promised.
Unlike Sweden and Finland, Turkey makes it clear that it is in no hurry to reach a compromise on their candidacy.
As you know, at the end of June, a summit of NATO leaders will meet in Madrid.
But I want to be clear: we are not under pressure to settle this or that subject between now and this summit.
We are determined that this process will move forward in a solid way, depending on the measures that will be taken to address Turkey's security concerns.
The Turkish official indicated that the exchanges would continue in the coming days, without however giving a date for a new meeting.
►Read again: Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership: Erdogan's position garners support in Turkey
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