Surprisingly, the Turkish President is withdrawing his veto against Finland and Sweden joining NATO. Now he is threatening the two countries again: Ankara insists that the promised extraditions take place. Otherwise there will be a new blockade.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reminded Sweden and Finland of their commitments under their NATO accession deal with Turkey. "We expect real solidarity from our allies, not only in words but also in deeds," Erdogan said at the NATO summit in Madrid. Stockholm and Helsinki must now join the fight against terrorism - "without any distinction between terrorist organizations".
In the course of the Russian attack on Ukraine, Sweden and Finland broke with their decades-long tradition of military alliance neutrality and applied for NATO membership in May. However, Turkey blocked their admission for weeks.
On Tuesday, shortly before the start of the NATO summit, Erdogan gave the go-ahead for the two countries to join. In a trinational agreement, Sweden and Finland have responded to Turkey's central demands, according to Ankara. On Thursday, the NATO countries then officially invited the two countries to join.
Among other things, Turkey is demanding the extradition of 33 "terrorist" suspects from Finland and Sweden. This refers to members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the movement of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom Erdogan blames for the 2016 coup attempt.
Erdogan stressed that Turkey can still withdraw its green light for Sweden and Finland to join NATO. "If they fulfill their duty, we will submit (the agreement) to Parliament," he said. "If they don't do it, there's no question of sending it to Parliament." Erdogan celebrated his "deal" with Helsinki and Stockholm as a "diplomatic victory" for Turkey. All of his demands were met in the agreement, and Turkey's sensitivities with regard to terrorism were recognized.
