On the 9th of the next month, Turkey decided to resume negotiations regarding the accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
According to foreign media such as CNN on the 27th (local time), Foreign Minister Mevlut Chaushollu Türkiye held a press conference that day and said, “We plan to hold talks on Sweden and Finland joining NATO on the 9th of next month.”
He insisted that Sweden was not fulfilling the requirements of the memorandum, saying, “It is impossible for Sweden to agree to join NATO unless the memorandum is fulfilled.”
Sweden and Finland, which had long been militarily neutral, applied to join NATO, the Western military alliance, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Currently, with the exception of Turkey and Hungary, all other member states, including the United States, have completed ratification. Hungary has announced that it will proceed with the parliamentary ratification process, but Turkey’s position is different.
Turkiye is not opposed to the ascent of Finland. However, as for Sweden, it is holding back by stumbling over the issue of support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) separatist group.
Recently, anti-Turkey protests have continued in Sweden by burning the Koran, the Islamic scripture, and the conflict between Sweden and Turkey is growing. The incident sparked outrage in Turkey and protesters burned Swedish flags in front of the Swedish embassy.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Türkiye has said that he is positive about Finland joining NATO, but “not as long as Sweden allows an attack on the Koran, the holy book of Islam.”
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