NATO: Sweden and Finland send delegations to Ankara

Finland and Sweden hope to convince Turkey to no longer oppose their candidacy to join NATO.

(Illustrative image).

© Yves Herman/REUTERS

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Delegations from Sweden and Finland are expected on Wednesday at the Turkish presidential palace in the capital, Ankara.

These two countries hope to convince Turkey to no longer oppose their candidacy to join NATO.

But President Erdogan, who accuses them of harming Turkey's security interests, is waiting for concrete commitments.

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With our correspondent in Istanbul,

Recep Tayyip Erdogan first responded curtly to Sweden and Finland, which had already offered, at the beginning of last week, to send representatives to discuss Turkish objections to their NATO membership.

“

 ”, had launched the head of state.

Behind the diplomatic scenes, discussions have apparently advanced since the two Nordic countries are each sending a delegation to Ankara.

They will be received in the middle of the day by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sedat Önal, and by the spokesperson for the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin, who is also his main adviser for foreign policy.

It will therefore be official exchanges to smooth things over – negotiations, even if Turkey refuses this term – but an outcome is not expected at the end of this visit.

According to its Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Cavusoglu, Turkey is asking for “ 

 ” and wants them to be formalized in a signed agreement.

It calls for an end to what is perceived as support from these countries for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the lifting of the embargo on arms sales to Turkey, decreed in 2019 following a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria.

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• Turkey

• Finland

• Sweden