Turkey will act accordingly if NATO deal promises not kept: Erdoğan
Sweden and Finland must fulfill the promises they made to Turkey in a deal to lift its veto on their NATO membership bids, Erdoğan said
AN ACCORD signed with Finland and Sweden to lift Turkey’s veto on their NATO membership bids is not the end of the matter and obliges the Nordic states to keep their promises, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was cited as saying on Friday.
Speaking to reporters on a flight back from the critical NATO summit in Madrid, Erdoğan said there was no need to rush ratifying the two bids in Parliament. Ankara should first see if they keep promises made under the memorandum, including on extraditing suspects sought by Turkey, he said.
“This should be known: These signatures don’t mean the issue is done ... Without our Parliament’s approval, this does not go into effect. So there is no need to rush,” Erdoğan said. “The ball is in their court now. Sweden and Finland are not NATO members currently. When there is any mistake, we already have undeniable documents and we will do what is necessary,” he added. Erdoğan said the decisions taken at Madrid will bear fruit in time.
“Promises that were made are of course important but the main point is the implementation,” he said on the landmark memorandum signed between Finland, Sweden and Turkey. With the signing of the memorandum, Turkey lifted an objection to the Nordic countries’ NATO bid. In return, Finland and Sweden will address Turkey’s terrorism concerns.
However, Erdoğan said Turkey will be cautious as “a country that has repeatedly been stabbed in the back in its fight against terrorism.” “We will closely monitor whether the promises made to our country are fulfilled in the coming period,” he further said. As a result of Turkey’s efforts in Madrid, the PKK and its Syrian branch the YPG, and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) were written off as terrorist groups in NATO’s records for the first time, he underlined.
“From now on, it will be much more difficult for PKK and FETÖ members to make terrorist propaganda, attack our country and our citizens and vandalize,” he said. “Sweden will extradite 73 terrorists to us. They have sent 3-4 of them so far, but that is not enough. The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MİT (Turkish National Intelligence) will keep a firm grip on the issue,” he added.
Asked about the extradition of suspects, Erdoğan said if the Nordic countries did not send these individuals “then
we will do what is necessary through our institutions and units.” Also speaking at a news conference in Madrid at the end of the NATO summit on Thursday, Erdoğan gave similar messages to the international audience.
Sweden and Finland must fulfill promises they made to Turkey in the deal to lift its veto on their NATO membership bids, including a pledge by Stockholm to extradite 73 “terrorists”, he said.
Erdoğan said he saw the signing of the trilateral accord as recognition of Ankara’s concerns around terrorism and a “diplomatic victory” for Turkey.
Turkey sees the agreement as an “understanding of its sensitivities,” he said, terming it the “beginning” of a process.
He urged Sweden and Finland to intensify their fight against terrorism, stressing the deal they signed with Ankara needed to be fully implemented.
“We have strongly emphasized the message that we expect genuine solidarity from our allies, not only in words but also in action,” Erdoğan told reporters after the summit at which the Nordic countries were formally invited into the U.S.-led military bloc.
Their membership applications were held up until the last moment by Turkey, which sought guarantees that the Nordic countries would join Turkey’s fight against PKK-linked terrorists and to swiftly extradite suspects. The dispute was resolved by a 10-point memorandum, signed on Tuesday, that appeared to address many of Turkey’s terrorism concerns and lift an arms embargo on Ankara imposed in response to Turkey’s 2019 military operation into Syria. But Erdoğan said he now expected the two countries to implement the deal in full.
Erdoğan told Sweden and Finland that
he could still block their drives to join NATO if they fail to implement the new deal with Ankara.
Finland and Sweden must first keep the promises made to Turkey in the deal to lift its veto on their NATO membership bids, otherwise, ratification will not be sent to the Turkish parliament, Erdoğan said and added that the two Nordic countries must complete legislative changes regarding terrorists as soon as possible.
New countries’ membership applications must be approved by all NATO member states, and ratified by the countries’ respective parliaments.
“The key thing is for promises to come true. In the coming period, we will monitor the enforcement of the elements in the memorandum and will take our steps accordingly,” Erdoğan said.
“First Sweden and Finland should carry out their duties and those are in the text...But if they don’t, of course, it is out of the question for the ratification to be sent to our parliament,” he added. The deal also states that Finland and Sweden will work closely with Turkey on issues related to the exchange of information, extradition and, in general, the fight against terrorism.
On NATO’s anti-terror efforts, he said it is important for the alliance to show its determination to fight terrorism in all its forms, but it “should not just remain on paper.” After four hours of talks in Madrid on Tuesday, Erdoğan and his Finnish and Swedish counterparts agreed on a series of security measures to allow the two Nordic countries to overcome the Turkish veto that Ankara imposed in May due to its concerns about terrorism and arms embargoes.
According to the signed memorandum, Finland and Sweden pledged not to support the PKK and its Syrian branch YPG
groups or FETÖ, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gülen, which Ankara says staged a 2016 coup attempt. The signed memorandum did not list any individuals for extradition.
Ratification in allied parliaments is likely to take up to a year, but once it is done, Finland and Sweden will be covered by NATO’s Article 5 collective defense clause, putting them under the United States’ protective nuclear umbrella.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson also said she intended to “cooperate more closely with Turkey” in the fight against the PKK. But she also stressed she would “comply with Swedish and international law in this matter” and not extradite any of her country’s citizens. The process would depend on what information was received from Turkey, she added.
Andersson said Turkey has made extradition requests in the past “and we have dealt with them.” Sometimes people have been deported, but most of the time they have not, she said. Sweden fully supports the NATO accession agreement reached with Turkey, the prime minister also said. “We are 100% behind the agreement,” Andersson told Swedish daily SVD.
UKRAINE WAR
In the backdrop of NATO’s new security policy, Erdoğan also said his country is maintaining a “balanced policy” in relations with Russia and Ukraine, as it does not want any harm to its “diplomatic traffic.” He underlined the importance of a strategy aiming for “win-win” solutions.
He said Turkey has ties with Russia and receives almost 40% of its natural gas from Russia. “On the other hand, we are currently working on nuclear energy, Akkuyu Power Plant. The foundation for the fourth part will be laid in a few months, perhaps in July,” he said. Aside from energy, Turkey and Russia also cooperate in the defense industry, he said.
Regarding the Ukraine war, the Turkish president said NATO “fully supports” Kyiv but must also show a “vision of peace and strive to stop the humanitarian tragedy as soon as possible.”
Erdoğan also called for an intensified effort to end the war in Ukraine, adding that there were “no losers in a just peace”.
Turkey has supplied Ukraine with armed drones and other weapons, but Erdoğan also enjoys a close working relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We should intensify our diplomatic efforts for a long-lasting ceasefire,” Erdoğan told reporters at the end of the NATO summit focused on Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor.
FUTURE OF NATO
Erdoğan said a special session on terrorism and threats emerging from the south was held at the summit at Turkey’s request.
He further stated that “in the (NATO) Strategic Concept, we marked for the first time that terrorist organizations threaten our security forces and our peoples and territories.”
NATO leaders on Wednesday approved the 2022 Strategic Concept, a blueprint for the alliance for the next decade. It covers the alliance’s priorities and goals for the next 10 years, and sets its joint position on emerging challenges, including Russia, while also addressing China for the first time.
The 2022 Strategic Concept accuses China of pursuing “coercive policies” that threaten NATO’s “interests, security and values.” It cites the “deepening strategic partnership” between China and Russia as a threat, saying that “their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut the rulesbased international order run counter to our values and interests.”
On Thursday, Erdoğan also said in a series of Twitter messages about the Madrid summit that Turkey will have a say in NATO’s future as it has in its past and present.
“As we pursue our independent foreign policy, we will continue to make the required contributions to NATO in the spirit of the alliance,” he said.
Erdoğan said the summit gave him the “opportunity to meet with many heads of state and government.”
The president held meetings with leaders of the United States, Germany, France, England, Spain, Netherlands, Austria and the European Union on the sidelines of the summit. Discussions during the meetings mainly focused on developments in Ukraine, he said.
Erdoğan hailed the Madrid huddle as “one of NATO’s most significant summits throughout its history.” “We endorsed the Strategic Concept, which will replace the document adopted at the 2010 Lisbon summit and sets out the alliance’s future prospects,” he added.