Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey May 18, 2022. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT
Murat Cetinmuhurdar | Reuters
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday approved Finland’s accession to NATO after months of talks.
“We have decided to initiate the ratification of Finland’s accession process to NATO in our parliament,” Erdogan said in Ankara, according to a Reuters translation, as he met his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto.
Erdogan added that he hoped the Turkish parliament would endorse Finland’s bid before the country’s May 14 elections.
In May, Finland and Sweden sent applications to join the military alliance. They decided to put an end to their policies of neutrality and military non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But the process to join NATO has not been as smooth as some had expected, particularly with Ankara demanding more security reassurances from Sweden.
Friday’s announcement paves the way for Finland to become a member of NATO in the coming months. Hungary is the only other member that has yet to approve Helsinki’s membership out of the 30 NATO nations.
But it leaves Stockholm a bit behind in the process.
Turkey’s opposition to Sweden’s NATO membership centers around what, it says, is their harboring of militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
During a NATO meeting in Madrid in June 2022, Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed an agreement outlining a path to a compromise, with Ankara calling for further anti-terrorism guarantees. Speaking to CNBC in February, Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Minister Tobias Billström said his country had done its part to fulfil the agreement.
“This is just a matter of time,” he said about joining the alliance, adding he expects his nation to be a full member by July.
Former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb played down concerns about Sweden being left behind.
“Both Finland and Sweden will become Nato members at the latest at the summit in July. The situation is stable. We are already de facto members,” he said on Twitter.
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Source link: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/17/turkey-erdogan-approves-nato-membership-finland-but-not-sweden-.html