Finnish defence minister Antti Kaikkonen told his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar in Ankara on Thursday that the Nordic country is prepared to remove its arms embargo on Turkey in order to expedite its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Saying that Finland takes Turkey’s security concerns “very seriously,” Kaikkonen said Helsinki would consider granting Ankara arms exports permits on a case-by-case basis. He also stressed that, contrary to press reports, Finland has not imposed an international arms embargo on Turkey.
He insisted that Finland would lift the arms embargo, “taking into account that we will all be NATO allies in the future.” Saying that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has threatened Europe’s security environment, the defence minister noted that “membership of Finland and Sweden will bring added value to NATO,” creating a “win-win” situation for Turkey and the two Nordic neighbours.
Finlandiya Savunma Bakanı Antti Kaikkonen: “Terörle mücadele konusunda desteğimiz sizinle. Finlandiya, Finlandiya halkı olarak net bir şekilde her türlü terör oluşumunu reddediyor, kınıyoruz.”https://t.co/C12kox8xB8 pic.twitter.com/wcBynw59T0
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) December 8, 2022
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO, fearing a potential Russian offensive against them. In May, Ankara blocked Helsinki and Stockholm’s bids to join NATO, saying they supported terrorists by harbouring Kurdish militants belonging to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Furthermore, Turkey said it would not approve their bids unless both countries lifted an arms embargo on the Turkish military over their invasion of Syria.
Finland and Sweden imposed arms embargoes on Turkey in 2019 following a Turkish military offensive against Kurdish rebels in northeast Syria.
MSB HULUSİ AKAR: “Finlandiya’da memorandumu destekleyen açıklamalar yapıldı ancak gözle görülür somut adımlar bekliyoruz. PKK/YPG terör örgütü ve destekçileri tarafından Finlandiya'da yapılan faaliyetlerin devam etmesinden rahatsız olduğumuzu ve endişe duyduğumuzu ifade ettim." pic.twitter.com/gFYCc8s3YY
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) December 8, 2022
In this respect, Turkish defence minister Akar told Kaikkonen the importance of Finland and Sweden “removing restrictions on export licences” before Ankara agrees to give the green light for the Nordic countries’ NATO bids. “We only target terrorist organisations and terrorists. I would like to underline that we never fight against any ethnic or religious group,” Akar stressed.
Turkey expects “concrete developments” from the two countries and expects them to follow through on their commitments as part of a trilateral memorandum reached by all three sides, he noted. In June, Sweden and Finland signed an agreement with Turkey wherein they vowed to stop supporting the PKK and the YPG and agreed to extradite Kurdish militants to Turkey.
Furthermore, the two countries agreed to remove all arms embargoes imposed on Turkey. In turn, Turkey agreed to approve Finland and Sweden’s applications upon further review of their actions.
Watch: #US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is convinced the US will be able to call #Sweden and Finland NATO allies soon, adding that #Turkey’s concerns about the two nations joining the alliance are being addressed.https://t.co/NNFYJpLb8T pic.twitter.com/0EaK1HXsM8
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) December 9, 2022
However, Turkey insists that Helsinki and Stockholm have not fulfilled their commitments. Akar told his Finnish counterpart that “some activities of the terrorist organisations” PKK and YPG are still continuing in the two countries.
He stated that Turkey is “disturbed and concerned” that Finland and Sweden allowed terrorist activities and urged them to “extradite terrorists and to stop the activities of terrorist-affiliated structures.”
Earlier this week, Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Finland and Sweden have not taken steps to fulfil their commitments as part of the June deal, saying Ankara expects more “concrete measure” from the two countries. Last month, Çavuşoğlu said as long as Turkey’s concerns are not respected, Ankara will not accept Finland and Sweden’s applications.