"Sultan" is angry

    Ridiculous blackmail against Turkey has reduced the chances of the Finns & Swedes joining NATO
    access_time17 May 2022
    print 17 5 2022
     

    Finnish President Sauli Niinistö announced his readiness to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Finland's accession to NATO

    Earlier, Erdogan said that he was "not positive" about the possible entry of Sweden and Finland into the alliance. According to him, this is due to the fact that members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), recognised by Ankara as a terrorist organisation, operate in these Scandinavian countries. At the same time, Erdogan included problems with Greece in his package of demands, calling Turkey's consent to its membership in NATO a mistake.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held talks with Swedish Foreign Ministers Anne Linde and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto on the sidelines of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin. No agreement was reached.

    Cavusoglu noted that Turkey does not intend to bargain on the issue of membership of Finland and Sweden, since "Ankara's position is clear." And the people of Turkey, they say, are asking the country's leadership to block the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO.

    Of course, Ankara would prefer to have dialogue on this topic with Washington, but in Berlin, instead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Americans were represented by Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. For Turkey, it is not an authority. Moreover, she is considered the author of the current Ukrainian upheavals.

    Ankara also became nervous that instead of the expected "quiet dialogue" on the problems of NATO expansion and the implementation of the open door policy for Sweden and Finland, it was openly blackmailed. Thus, the head of the faction of the European People's Party in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, warned that Turkey could expect "isolation in NATO if it blocks the entry of Finland and Sweden into the alliance."

    As the Turkish publication Dünya writes in this regard, "the transfer of the discussion on the membership of the Scandinavian countries in NATO to the level of almost a public political scandal narrows Turkey's manoeuvrability in this direction. If Erdogan concedes, the West will say that he was ‘bent over’, which will hit his international reputation."

    What's next? The Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet draws several scenarios of Ankara's actions.

    First: Ankara will still be persuaded to approve the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance at the NATO summit at the end of June in Madrid. In return, Stockholm and Helsinki will undertake obligations to restrict the activities of Kurdish organisations on their territory.

    Secondly, the Turkish parliament will delay the process of ratification of the documents, which will allow Ankara to gain historical time and orient itself in new conditions and a new geopolitical space.

    Meanwhile, NATO is in crisis. So the leader of the Italian "League" Matteo Salvini said that the entry of Finland and Sweden into the alliance should be postponed. Also, according to him, sending new weapons to Ukraine does not contribute to a peaceful resolution of the situation. Salvini suggests putting both the first and second positions on the waiting list.

    Elena Panina, Director of the RUSSTRAT Institute

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