SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Turkey threatens to stall NATO process if Nordic nations fail to act
Ankara, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2022
Turkey on Wednesday said the NATO accession process for Sweden and Finland would not move forward unless they addressed Ankara's security concerns, in talks with delegations from both Nordic states.

"We conveyed our message in very clear terms that the process will not move forward unless Turkey's security concerns are addressed through concrete steps and within a certain timetable," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters after meeting Swedish and Finnish representatives in the capital Ankara.

NATO member Turkey has opposed the applications of Sweden and neighbouring Finland over what it considers leniency toward Kurdish militant groups.

Stockholm and Helsinki submitted their bids to join NATO last week, reversing decades of military non-alignment, after political and public support for membership soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But Turkey is throwing a spanner in the works as any membership must be unanimously approved by all NATO members.

Ankara accuses Stockholm in particular of providing safe haven for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies.

"They told us they understand Turkey's security concerns, but we'll see what steps they will take," Kalin said, adding that dialogue would continue.

Sweden has imposed embargoes on arms sales to Turkey since 2019 over Ankara's military offensive in Syria.

Kalin said on Wednesday he was seeing a "positive" attitude on the removal of sanctions in the defence industry.

"We don't think it is appropriate for allies to impose sanctions on each other, that would weaken the alliance and make enemies happy," he added.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Interference to astronomy the unintended consequence of faster internet
Russian rocket puts Iran satellite into space: Iran media
Viasat unveils IoT Nano service for global low-power connectivity

24/7 Energy News Coverage
NASA's X-59 moves under its own power
Sri Lanka orders Singapore shipowner to pay US$1 bn over marine disaster
More than 80% of Tuvalu seeks Australian climate visa

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
New MachLab rocket test site launches UK into next phase of space engineering
Ukraine's anti-graft body says new bill restores independence
Iran meets European powers amid threats of UN sanctions snapback

24/7 News Coverage
Australia's mammal megafauna face long-term decline from extinctions and invasive species
Alien life clues may emerge from deep sea volcanic vents on Earth
Seismic signatures reveal fragmentation patterns of fireball meteoroids



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.