Finland optimistic of securing Turkey support in bid to join Nato

STOCKHOLM/ANKARA • Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said yesterday he was optimistic Finland and Sweden would be able to secure Turkey's support for their Nato membership bids, despite Ankara's last-minute objections.

"I am confident that with the help of constructive talks, the situation will be resolved," Mr Niinisto told Sweden's Parliament in a speech, later adding during a question period, "I'm optimistic".

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to block the alliance's expansion, accusing Helsinki and Stockholm of harbouring militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

Sweden has suspended any arms sales to Turkey since 2019 over Ankara's military operation in neighbouring Syria.

"We will not say 'yes' to those (countries) who apply sanctions to Turkey to join security organisation Nato," said Mr Erdogan on Monday.

"Neither of the countries has a clear stance against terror organisations," he added.

Any membership bid for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) must be unanimously approved by the alliance's 30 members. Sweden and Finland have been caught off guard by Ankara's objections.

Mr Niinisto said that during a conversation with Mr Erdogan a month ago, the Turkish leader said his country "was favourable" to Finland's bid. And then "this past week, he said 'not favourable'".

A diplomatic source said Turkey blocked a Nato declaration on Monday in favour of Sweden and Finland's membership and that Mr Erdogan alone took the decision. Sweden and Finland are sending delegations to Turkey to meet with Turkish officials.

Mr Erdogan has deep resentment against Nato allies for what he sees as their refusal to take seriously Ankara's concerns about Kurdish militants operating inside Turkey and across its borders in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey wants its perception of the threat to be acknowledged by all members of the military alliance, and says risk priorities should be harmonised across the alliance.

"They say they will come to Turkey on Monday. Will they come to persuade us? Excuse us, but they shouldn't bother," Mr Erdogan responded on Monday to news that Sweden and Finland are sending delegations.

The two Nordic countries have failed to respond positively to Turkey's 33 extradition requests over the past five years, Turkish Justice Ministry sources told the official Anadolu news agency on Monday.

The agency reported that Turkey wanted individuals who were either accused of having links to Kurdish militants or belonging to a movement blamed for the 2016 attempted overthrow of Mr Erdogan.

Turkey has rebuked Stockholm especially for showing what it describes as leniency towards the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said yesterday that Mr Erdogan is using the situation as a negotiating ploy to try to extract concessions, including in the country's efforts to buy F-35 fighter jets from the United States.

Finland and Sweden will submit their bids to join Nato together today at the military alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.

"I'm happy we have taken the same path and we can do it together," said Ms Andersson yesterday during a joint press conference with Mr Niinisto.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG