Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed his country’s commitment to reject Finland and Sweden’s membership in the US-led defense pact NATO. This is not without reason.
Both countries, Erdogan says, support Kurdish militant groups Ankara considers terrorists. In addition, Stockholm has also imposed sanctions on Turkey since 2019, for its military activities in Syria.
“We will not say ‘yes’ to (countries) imposing sanctions on Turkey to join the NATO security organization,” he was quoted as saying. CNBC International, Tuesday (17/5/2022)).
Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it planned to send senior officials from Sweden and Finland to Ankara. But Erdogan said the move was futile.
“Will they come to persuade us? Excuse me, but they needn’t bother,” he added.
It is worth noting that any decision on expanding NATO requires the approval of the 30 allies and their parliaments. This makes Turkey’s stance very important in membership registration.
Emerging market strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, Timothy Ash, said this could trigger a new crisis in Turkey’s relations with the West. There will be some NATO members who will definitely try to suppress the world’s strongest Muslim figure.
“Turkey will be seen as an unreliable partner. This will make the trust between the two sides lost,” he said
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hoped Turkey could “cooperate” by agreeing to Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
“I am confident that we will be able to address the concerns that Turkey has expressed in a way that does not delay membership,” he said.
Finland and Sweden themselves registered to become members of NATO because they felt threatened by Russia. According to both countries, this threat was heightened when Moscow attacked Ukraine.
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