Ankara has set concrete terms for Helsinki and Stockholm to address their terrorism concerns before agreeing to mediated talks, three people familiar with the talks told the Financial Times.
Turkey’s refusal was hampered by NATO’s proposal for tripartite talks with Sweden and Finland, aimed at finding a solution to the two Nordic countries’ accession to the North Atlantic Alliance.
Ankara has set concrete terms for Helsinki and Stockholm to address their terrorism concerns before agreeing to mediated talks, three people familiar with the talks told the Financial Times.
After Turkey said “no”, NATO officials tried to mediate an agreement through bilateral talks.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO. The first assessment among the allies was that this first request would not be a problem and would proceed within two weeks.
However, Turkish objections froze the process, with Erdogan calling the two countries “hatcheries” of terrorists and accusing Sweden of failing to crack down on the PKK.
A tripartite meeting mediated by NATO officials was the “ultimate goal”, but “we are not there yet,” a senior alliance official told the Financial Times, citing Turkey’s reluctance to participate and a lack of clarity on Ankara’s demands. from both countries.
Erdogan reiterated his request for concessions from the two Scandinavian nations on Wednesday. “Until Sweden and Finland show clear, concrete and decisive steps, we will certainly not change our position on the NATO issue,” he said.
Asked about the failure of the tripartite talks, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: “We have a process now where meetings have taken place in different forms.”
Stoltenberg said that “the people in his staff” are also working to address Turkey’s “reasonable concerns” and acknowledged that he was less optimistic about the Nordic application process than a month ago.
“We have to sit down and address these concerns,” he told a news conference. “It will take longer than we originally expected.”
Finland and Sweden have said they are tightening their anti-terrorism legislation and could ease arms sales to Turkey once it joins NATO in a bid to overcome Ankara’s objections. Like Turkey, Finland and Sweden classify the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Representatives of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and NATO did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Ankara’s rejection in tripartite talks.
“We are not yet panicked or desperately anxious,” the senior official said, adding that a negotiated agreement that would allow Turkey to withdraw its objections to the two countries’ accession to the alliance “remains in the realm of diplomatic choices.”
