Erdogan signals approval for Finland’s NATO bid

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Finnish counterpart in Ankara on Friday, signalling Türkiye’s approval of Finland’s NATO membership bid.

In a statement following a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto, Erdogan said that he will ask Türkiye’s parliament to vote on Finland’s NATO application.

“We have decided to start the protocol of Finland’s accession to NATO in our parliament,” Erdogan said.

The talks between the two leaders focused on Helsinki’s application to join the military alliance.

Despite the rain, Erdogan and Niinisto reviewed the military honour guard at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital’s Bestepe district before holding a formal meeting.

But as Finland’s NATO ratification process begins in the Turkish parliament, there is bad news for Sweden: Erdogan said Türkiye cannot ratify Sweden’s application for the bloc, noting Stockholm’s refusal to extradite 120 suspected terrorists.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in May last year following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, abandoning decades of nonalignment.

The expansion of the 30-nation bloc has been held up by Türkiye and Hungary, the only two countries not to have yet ratified the Nordic states’ bids, which the parliaments of each NATO member must approve.

Erdogan has raised specific objections to the countries — especially Sweden — joining NATO. In June last year Türkiye, Sweden and Finland signed an agreement designed to smooth the path for the Nordic accession.

The document included clauses addressing Ankara’s concerns that Stockholm and Helsinki have been too soft on those it considers terrorists, particularly supporters of the PKK terror group who have waged a 40-year terror campaign in Türkiye and FETO cultists associated with a 2016 coup attempt.