Finland has taken “sincere and concrete steps” to address Turkey’s security concerns, President Erdogan said.
The Turkish authorities have decided to start the process of ratification in the Parliament of Finland of the accession to NATO. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this at a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niiniste in Ankara, Anadolu reported on Friday, March 17.
Turkey has always supported NATO’s “open door” policy, he said, and Finland has taken “sincere and concrete steps” to address Ankara’s security concerns.
Erdogan has expressed hope that Finland’s NATO bid will be approved by parliament before Turkey’s May elections.
“I am sure that Finland will make a significant contribution to global security and stability within the framework of NATO,” the Turkish president said.
Sauli Niiniste, meanwhile, called Ankara’s decision to support Helsinki’s bid to join NATO “important news for all the people of Finland.” “We are very grateful to you,” the Finnish president told Erdogan.
He, in turn, added that the decision to separate the consideration of NATO applications was made in light of the absence of terrorist accomplices in Finland, which cannot be said about Sweden.
Referring to the application of Stockholm to join NATO, the President of Turkey said that the negotiations will continue in the light of the principles of the Alliance and taking into account the attitude of Ankara on the subject of the fight against terrorism.
“Ankara gave Stockholm a list of 120 terrorists. Without the extradition of these criminals to Turkey, a positive attitude is impossible (to the NATO application – ed.). Ankara’s attitude to Stockholm’s application will be determined of concrete steps by the Swedish side,” Erdogan explained.
Last week, Turkey reportedly resumed NATO talks with Finland and Sweden. Scandinavian countries have made some progress, Ankara said at the time.
As you know, the negotiations between the three countries were stopped in January after a Koran burning protest in Stockholm.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.