Why does Turkey block Nordic access to NATO?

Source: NATO. Data: DUY LINH – Graphics: T.DAT

In a statement on May 15, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu affirmed that Ankara has no objection to the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Instead they want to negotiate with the two countries about forces that Turkey describes as “terrorists” but is receiving support from Stockholm and Helsinki.

The Kurdish problem

The administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again shown that they are quick to seize the opportunity to seek out things that are beneficial to their country.

This is not the first time Turkey has accused Scandinavian countries of harboring and supporting “terrorism”. These are Kurdish groups as well as supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a missionary in exile in the United States accused by Ankara of being behind the 2016 coup that toppled President Erdogan.

The failed coup led to a hunt for Gulen’s supporters and diplomatic tensions between the United States and Turkey when Ankara requested his extradition but was refused.

The Turkish government is always on the lookout for any foreign contact with the armed forces of the Kurds – an ethnic group that spans the Middle East from Turkey to Syria, Iran and Iraq.

With separatism, fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have rebelled in southeastern Turkey and have been battling government troops since 1984, killing tens of thousands of people. Turkey has listed the PKK as a terrorist organization, a move that has received support from the United States and the European Union (EU).

According to Ankara, despite being members of the EU, Finland and Sweden still show support for the PKK and even the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. Many of the migrants to Northern Europe are Kurds, some of whom have been granted political asylum after decades of sporadic conflict between Kurdish groups and Turkish security forces.

“These two countries are openly supporting and engaging with the PKK and the YPG – terrorist organizations that are attacking our military every day,” Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said after a NATO meeting. in Germany on May 15 and called the actions of Stockholm and Helsinki “unacceptable”.

According to Cavusoglu, these will be issues that Turkey needs to negotiate with NATO as well as Sweden and Finland.

In fact, the terrorist labeling of the PKK is now controversial, with suggestions that the group has ceased to be involved in activities that kill civilians and has also given up secession, demanding only the right to greater autonomy for the Turkish Kurds.

In addition, Ankara considers the YPG – the US-backed Kurdish fighters in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group – as an offshoot of the PKK, thus automatically adding the YPG to the terrorist list. of this country.

Looking for a compromise solution?

“We are not slamming the door on anyone. We are basically raising this issue as a matter of national security for Turkey,” said Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman and foreign policy adviser. head of the Turkish president, told Reuters news agency in an interview in Istanbul last weekend.

“What needs to be made clear is that these countries must stop allowing PKK facilities, activities, individuals and other forms of presence to exist there. We’ll see how things turn out. and this is the first point that we want to bring to the attention of all our allies, as well as the Swedish authorities,” added Kalin.

According to observers, with the current situation, Sweden and Finland will need the voices of other influential countries in NATO such as the US, UK and Germany.

“We will send a group of diplomats to Turkey to hold dialogues, to see how this can be resolved and what the problem is,” the Swedish defense minister said. Peter Hultqvist announced May 16.

In fact, after Turkish President Erdogan expressed his disapproval, the US immediately showed its leadership role when holding phone calls with the leaders of Finland and Sweden, and called on Ankara. clarify point of view.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics said NATO will find a reasonable solution for Finland and Sweden to be accepted as members while still reconciling Turkey’s requirements.

“We have had discussions among allies many times before. Because we have always found reasonable solutions, I think we will find a solution this time,” he said. Rinkevics confidently said on May 15.