Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it was not possible for NATO-member Turkey to view positively plans by Sweden and Finland to join the pact, saying the two countries were “home to many terrorist organizations.”
Finland’s plan to apply for NATO membership, announced on Thursday, and the expectation that Sweden will follow, would bring about the expansion of the Western military alliance that Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to prevent.
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it was not possible for NATO-member Turkey to support plans by Sweden and Finland to join the pact, saying the Nordic countries were “home to many terrorist organisations”.
Finland’s plan to apply for NATO membership, announced Thursday, and the expectation that Sweden will follow, would bring about the expansion of the Western military alliance that Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to prevent by launching the Ukraine invasion.
“We are following the developments regarding Sweden and Finland, but we don’t hold positive views,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul, adding it was a mistake for NATO to accept Greece as a member in the past.
Turkey has been officially supportive of enlargement since it joined NATO 70 years ago. Any decision on enlargement must be made by unanimous agreement of its members.
“As Turkey, we don’t want to repeat similar mistakes. Furthermore, Scandinavian countries are guesthouses for terrorist organisations,” Erdogan said.
“They are even members of the parliament in some countries. It is not possible for us to be in favour,” he added.
While Erdogan is right in stating that neither Sweden nor Finland have been supportive of Turkey’s political parties, the announcement demonstrates how hard it is for him to stage a “Westward turn”. That is, above and beyond Turkey’s strange alliance with Russia and Iran, which makes it very difficult for NATO and EU to take Turkey’s friendship seriously, there are legitimate disagreements concerning the treatment of professional terror organization, PKK.
Global press has paid a lot of attention to Erdogan’s diplomatic moves recently, led by visits to UAE and Saudi Arabia, as a sign of Erdogan’s desperation for new friends…with deep pockets. The expectation from US and EU, too, has been, to be supportive of Turkey’s desperate search for cash for AKP-MHP to bankroll the coming election.
Erdogan’s objection to NATO expansion makes it very clear that he shall not get any financial favors from the West, nor will Western financial institutions treat “Turkey risk” kindly.
Jabba D. Hutt, Staff Reporter
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