The United States on Tuesday increased political pressure on Turkey so that NATO, the western military alliance of which Ankara is a part, quickly accept the accession of Sweden and Finland.
Both Nordic countries declared their intention to join NATO and abandon decades of neutrality dedicated to appeasing Russia after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February. The order will be delivered this Wednesday (18). The Turks, who have a close relationship with both Kiev and Moscow, are against it.
US President Joe Biden will receive his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson this Thursday (19) in Washington. According to the White House, the US is “confident” in a quick solution to the Turkish embarrassment.
He was put in full letter by the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in speeches on Friday (13) and Monday (16). The Turk said it would not be possible for his country to accept the two Nordic nations joining the alliance because they protect “terrorist organizations”.
In the case, he refers to opponents of his government, such as the Kurds of the PKK party and the followers of the cleric Fethullah Gülen, exiled in the US and accused by Erdogan of masterminding the military coup attempt he suffered in 2016.
In addition, since 2019, when Turkey expanded its action in Syria’s civil war alongside Vladimir Putin’s already present Russia, there has been an arms embargo enacted against Ankara enacted by Stockholm and Helsinki.
These are far fewer problems than Turkey’s rivalry with another NATO country, Greece, with whom it lives in constant tension around the divided island of Cyprus. But in this case, both countries joined NATO together in 1952. Turkey now has, like the other 29 members of the club, the power to veto new members.
The expectation among analysts is that Turkey will sell support to the Nordics dearly, perhaps demanding the deportation of exiled activists or more incisive statements. This Tuesday, Niinistö said he was confident in the resolution of the crisis. “Turkey’s statements have changed quickly and have gotten tougher in recent days. But I am sure that with the help of constructive discussions, we will resolve the situation,” he said.
The Finnish legislature approved, by 188 votes in favour, 8 against and no abstentions, the application for entry. On a visit to Stockholm on Tuesday, Niinistö said alongside Andersson that the requisition from both countries will be delivered this Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The formalization of the processing of the order should take place until the summit of the alliance, at the end of June in Madrid.
Russia has kept a measured tone, after initial threats that included the suggestion of placing nuclear weapons close to the two Nordic neighbors – in the Finnish case, there is a 1,300 km border between the countries, while in the Swedish, the friction domain is the sea. Baltic.
Putin said there would be backlash against the countries, which are not perceived as a threat to Russia, but that it would be proportionate to the militarization that eventual NATO membership would bring. Andersson came forward on this and said he would not allow multinational bases or alliance nuclear weapons in Sweden.
Amid the risks of a Third World War, which is not wanted either in Moscow or Brussels or Washington despite NATO’s strong support for Ukraine, it is a password of accommodation in a major diplomatic escalation on the part of the West.
