Yesterday, high-ranking officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden were supposed to meet on Finnish soil to try to find mutually acceptable solutions that would allow the Erdogan government to give the go-ahead for the two Scandinavian countries to join NATO.

The Finnish government has shrouded yesterday’s meeting in the strictest secrecy, since until the last moment did not disclose either the place or the names of the participants, citing security concerns. Turkish media reported that the meeting was to be held in Helsinki and that Ankara would be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal, Turkish presidential chief adviser Ibrahim Kalın and other representatives of the intelligence, interior and justice ministries. Yesterday’s meeting was the first since the three countries signed a memorandum of understanding at the NATO summit in Madrid in late June to lift Turkey’s veto over Sweden and Finland joining the Alliance. Turkey has accused the two countries, and especially Sweden, of supporting “terrorist” organizations (the Kurdish separatist organization PKK, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militias and Imam Fethullah Gülen’s FETO network) and imposing an arms embargo against it.

The two candidate countries have said they respect Turkey’s security interests and will help Turkey fight all forms of terrorism, but do not commit themselves to deporting specific Kurds or others, as Ankara claims. Since the signing of the MoU so far, there has been little progress.

A trilateral meeting of senior officials as Ankara continues to block the entry of the two Scandinavian countries into NATO.

At a recent conference of Turkish ambassadors held in Ankara, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed his government’s disappointment that the governments of Sweden and Finland, despite “good intentions”, have not taken practical steps.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was also critical, noting that no country has deported a single person wanted by Turkey for acts in support of terrorism. Sweden announced the deportation of a person convicted of fraud, but Bozdag commented that “if they think that by deporting common criminal law criminals to Turkey they will convince us that they are fulfilling their obligations, they are laughing.”

To complete the membership of the two countries in NATO, it must be ratified by the parliaments of all 30 member countries of the Alliance. To date, this has happened in 23 member countries. The Turkish parliament will open the new season on October 1, but no date has yet been set for a debate on the accession of Sweden and Finland. “We are not in a hurry,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said characteristically.

Sources: REUTERS, HURRIYET.