The President of Turkey,Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated accusations against Greece, the US, the EU and the West in general for its stance on the Kurdish issue, while regarding Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO[/B], he stressed that he does not lift his objections.
Indeed, Turkey also rejected NATO's invitation to participate in trilateral talks with Finland and Sweden in order to find a solution to Ankara's opposition to the Scandinavian countries joining the Alliance. "We are not there yet," the Turkish president appeared to signal.
For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that "we have forwarded our written requests to these two countries (Finland and Sweden). We are now waiting for their written response." Without going into details about the demands, Cavusoglu clarified that they were not just about a change in laws around terrorism.
According to the Financial Times, Ankara asked for specific proposals from Helsinki and Stockholm before moving forward with talks, prompting NATO officials to take action to reach an agreement through bilateral talks with each country. Among other things, he called for supporting the country "in its fight against terrorist organizations," including the PKK and the Fethullah Terrorist Organization.
Finland and Sweden were also reportedly asked to share information with Turkey and lift defence industry restrictions against it.
Finnish Prime Minister Shana Marin yesterday, Tuesday, called for an agreement with Ankara before the Atlantic Alliance summit at the end of June. However, Ankara's side has leaked to the Turkish media that it will seek a one-year suspension of the membership process.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Sweden on Monday that NATO is working hard to resolve the "legitimate concerns raised by Turkey". In Brussels, however, the relevant ministers of Finland and Sweden have been invited to the meeting of NATO defence ministers.
"Mr Stoltenberg always expresses his views frankly and makes efforts to respond to Turkey's concerns.We appreciate his efforts," said Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Source: protothema.gr
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