Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:42 PM

President Erdogan says Turkey will start ratifying Finland's NATO application

Source: CNBC

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday approved Finland’s accession to NATO after months of talks, but added that discussions with Sweden will continue.

“We have decided to initiate the ratification of Finland’s accession process to NATO in our parliament,” Erdogan said in Ankara, according to a Reuters translation, as he met his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto. Erdogan added that he hoped the Turkish parliament would endorse Finland’s bid before the country’s May 14 elections.

In May, Finland and Sweden sent applications to join the military alliance. They decided to put an end to their policies of neutrality and military non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But the process to join NATO has not been as smooth as some had expected, particularly with Ankara demanding more security reassurances from Sweden.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/17/turkey-erdogan-approves-nato-membership-finland-but-not-sweden-.html

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5 replies	Author	Time	Post
President Erdogan says Turkey will start ratifying Finland's NATO application (Original post)	BumRushDaShow	Mar 17	OP
What was Turkey promised in return?	no_hypocrisy	Mar 17	#1
Looks like it is related to policies regarding the Kurds	BumRushDaShow	Mar 17	#2
IDK, but rebuilding from those destructive earthquakes	Backseat Driver	Mar 17	#3
Talk is cheap.	sakabatou	Mar 17	#4
We should consider kicking Turkey out of NATO and letting Sweden into it.	roamer65	Mar 17	#5

Response to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Fri Mar 17, 2023, 01:00 PM

no_hypocrisy (42,150 posts)

1. What was Turkey promised in return?

Reply to this post

Response to no_hypocrisy (Reply #1)

Fri Mar 17, 2023, 01:12 PM

BumRushDaShow (109,827 posts)

2. Looks like it is related to policies regarding the Kurds

Finland gears up for Turkey’s NATO blessing, as Sweden gets left behind

President Sauli Niinistö will meet his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday, while Stockholm acknowledges its path looks different.

By Lili Bayer and Hans von der Burchard
March 15, 2023 6:57 pm CET

(snip)

Turkey has raised concerns about arms exports and support for Kurdish groups from Finland and Sweden, leading to months-long negotiations and policy changes in both Helsinki and Stockholm.

But Turkish officials say they are not fully satisfied — particularly with Sweden, which has refused to extradite dozens of Turkey’s Kurdish political opponents. A Quran-burning incident in Stockholm further escalated tensions. Talks among the three countries at NATO headquarters last week ended with no breakthrough.

(snip)

https://www.politico.eu/article/finland-turkey-nato-blessing-sweden-sauli-niinisto-recep-erdogan/

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Response to no_hypocrisy (Reply #1)

Fri Mar 17, 2023, 01:19 PM

Backseat Driver (3,429 posts)