Turkey is blocking Sweden and Finland from joining NATO and demanding extradition and weapons in return. US Secretary of State Blinken believes that all demands have now been met. However, he does not see the US in a position to put pressure on Ankara.
Despite Turkey’s blockade, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expects Sweden and Finland to join NATO soon. “Both countries have taken significant, concrete steps to fulfill their commitments – including those related to security concerns from our ally Turkey,” Blinken said in Washington after meeting with his counterparts Pekka Haavisto of Finland and Tobias Billstrom of Sweden. “I assume that both will become official members soon.”
Turkey is currently blocking the alliance’s northern expansion over alleged Finland and Sweden support for groups Turkey deems terrorist. Ankara has repeatedly demanded that Sweden be extradited as a prerequisite for approval of accession. According to a media report, the Swedish judiciary does not want to extradite two men who are said to be on the Turkish wish list. According to the Expressen newspaper, the public prosecutor’s office believes that the two men have not committed a crime under Swedish law and are at risk of persecution in Turkey. The report was not officially confirmed. Both are accused of having connections to the Gülen movement in Turkey, which classifies Ankara as a terrorist organization – but not Sweden.
Blinken emphasized that the accession, which was pushed ahead quickly in view of the Ukraine war, is a process involving all members: “This is not a bilateral matter between the United States and Turkey.” Swedish Foreign Minister Billstrom announced further talks with his Turkish counterpart on the matter. Billström thanked Blinken for the strong support of Ukraine in the defensive fight against Russia. At the same time, he called on European countries to step up their efforts along the lines of Washington.
In the course of the dispute over NATO’s northern expansion, the Finnish defense minister rejected Turkish accusations that the country had imposed an arms embargo on Ankara. There is no such ban, said Antti Kaikkonen, according to the state news agency Anadolu in Ankara. There he met his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar. The Turkish government had previously imposed an embargo on Finland and demanded that it be lifted before Ankara agreed to a northward expansion of NATO.
Although there is no embargo, in practice Finland and Sweden have not exported any armaments to Turkey since Turkey invaded Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria in 2019. This could change now. Kaikkonen said Helsinki will process some applications for export permits to Turkey in the near future, according to Finnish broadcaster Yle. However, weapons would not be exported without careful controls. Sweden had already announced a few weeks ago that it was ready to deliver arms to Turkey again.
