- Turkey surprises NATO allies
- Finland and Sweden hoped for a quick accession
- Turkish President Cavusoglu is meeting with US counterpart Blinken
ISTANBUL / WASHINGTON / BRUSSELS, May 18 (Reuters) – When Finland and Sweden signaled their intention to make the historic decision to join NATO, the alliance expected a firm response from Moscow, not its own.
Still, at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers with their Finnish and Swedish counterparts on Saturday to celebrate the biggest change in European security in decades, Turkey’s mood darkened.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was “in crisis”, a NATO diplomat told Reuters during an evening meeting in Berlin. A day earlier, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shocked NATO members by saying he could not support either Finland or Sweden’s membership.
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Cavusoglu not only set conditions for Turkey to accept membership bids, but raised his voice against Sweden’s An Linde in what three NATO diplomats said was an “uncomfortable” violation of the protocol.
“It was a historic moment for us, and yet Cavusoglu said he was annoyed by Linde’s ‘feminist policy’, which brings so much drama,” said another NATO diplomat, describing the very tense atmosphere at the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. many allies chose silence to calm the situation.
“We were trying to find out what our Turkish counterpart wanted – you know, he really wanted to,” said the diplomat, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “It was a shame.”
Ankara’s main demands are that the Scandinavian countries stop supporting Kurdish armed groups present on their territory and lift their bans on some arms sales to Turkey.
A Turkish diplomatic source said Cavusoglu had respected Turkey’s position, rejecting Linde’s claim that her opposition was due to Sweden’s feminist foreign policy.
“Her comments do not help Sweden’s bid for NATO, while statements coming from Finland have been carefully drafted,” the source said. The Swedish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment after hours.
Driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the two countries applied to join NATO on Wednesday. Read more
Russia, which says the threat of NATO enlargement was the main reason for sending troops to Ukraine, is playing cool.
While Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the accession of Finland and Sweden was a “serious mistake” with “far-reaching consequences”, President Vladimir Putin said on May 16 that their candidacies for NATO membership did not pose a direct threat to Russia. .
CONTACTS FIXED
Saturday’s deteriorating mood was even more surprising, as NATO diplomats told Reuters in early May that all 30 allies supported Finland and Sweden joining the alliance because of the security benefits it would bring. Read more
NATO allies wanted to seal their accession in record time as a way to solidify their response to Russia, but Erdogan said on Monday that the Swedish and Finnish delegations should not come to Ankara as planned.
On Wednesday, the Turkish presidency said a key adviser to Erdogan had spoken to colleagues from Sweden, Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Progress in NATO membership is possible only if Turkey’s expectations are met, it said. Read more
A person close to the situation gave a more optimistic assessment, saying that the conversation with Sweden was positive and opened the door for the delegations’ visits next week. Still, Wednesday’s calls came after five days of fighting in the Scandinavian countries to reach Erdogan’s office, the man said.
“All this is blurring the water, but not holding back the overall accession plan,” the man said on condition of anonymity.
Ankara says the arms ban – adopted by the Nordic countries in response to Turkey’s 2019 military invasion of northern Syria against Kurdish extremists – is inappropriate for future members of the security pact.
Turkish state television TRT said Sweden and Finland had not approved Turkey’s request to repatriate 33 people with alleged links to groups it considers terrorists. The chairman of the Swedish parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Kenneth Forslund, said a solution could be found, but elsewhere.
“It is completely unthinkable that Sweden will start expelling people who are not considered terrorists according to the lists of terrorists that the EU has,” he said.
UNFINISHED WORK
Diplomats in European capitals say they saw Erdogan’s edge before leading to a deal. An unpredictable but strategically important ally in NATO, Erdogan’s Turkey pursues an independent foreign policy, but remains a major contributor to NATO missions.
Tensions have clouded relations between Washington and Ankara just as they seemed to have improved after five years of disagreement over Syria, Turkey’s closer ties with Moscow and the erosion of the country’s rights and freedoms.
Cavusoglu met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in New York later Wednesday.
“We are seeing the winds of the Cold War again,” Cavusoglu told members of the Turkish-American community late Tuesday.
A source close to the trial said Cavusoglu was taking a firm position publicly, urged by Erdogan, but that there was a risk that foreign allies would isolate Turkey if he went too far.
At home, Erdogan faces tough elections by mid-2023, and his blows in Europe are affecting national nationalist sentiment.
The United States is still confident of the decision. Blinken told a news conference Sunday that talks are ongoing on differences between Turkey, Finland and Sweden.
“When it comes to the membership process, I am very confident that we will reach a consensus,” he said.
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Additional reports by Tuvan Gumrukju in Ankara and Ali Kuchukgochmen in Istanbul, Sabine Siebold and Alexander Ratz in Berlin, Simon Johnson in Stockholm; writing by Robin Emot; edited by Philippa Fletcher
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