A clear signal to the Turkish government to be more positive about the candidacies of Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance was sent from Ankara by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, with the latter reiterating the possibility of a separate process for the two candidate countries.

G. Stoltenberg once again emphasized the importance of the immediate inclusion of the two Scandinavian countries in the North Atlantic Alliance, stressing that both countries hastened to help Turkey in its current needs.

“This is the worst natural disaster that has hit a NATO country,” said G. Stoltenberg, referring to his extraordinary visit to the Turkish capital. He pointed to the help of the member countries and pointedly emphasized the offer of two candidate members, whose admission Turkey still refuses to accept into the Alliance: “Both of our candidate members, Sweden and Finland, in fact demonstrate their solidarity with the help they offer to Turkey ”, he said together with M. Cavusoglu.

“As I said, it’s time for Sweden and Finland to get full membership,” Stoltenberg said, recalling the steps taken by Stockholm and Helsinki and reiterating that Turkey has “legitimate security concerns” over terrorism, but added that the inclusion of Sweden and Finland would strengthen the Alliance’s ability to fight international terrorism.

“The point is not to join two countries at the same time, but to do it immediately,” he said. At the same time, he admitted that “this is the decision of the government and the Turkish parliament, and nothing more.”

For his part, M. Cavusoglu, considering it necessary to defend the Turkish position, said that “we recognize the positive steps taken by Sweden and Finland, but Sweden’s obligations are not fulfilled, it would be naive to assert such a thing,” he said, speaking about the actions of the PKK through Sweden which, he emphasized, are ongoing. In fact, he said that “just as ISIS propaganda is banned, PKK propaganda should also be banned in Sweden.”

“Sweden must take concrete steps to allay our concerns. This is a national issue for us,” he said, but was quick to point out that Turkey always wants a stronger NATO and that it is more likely that Finland will be considered separately from Sweden.

Source: TRT, Reuters.