Turkish Foreign Minister and Finnish Foreign Minister discuss NATO’s eastward expansion and other issues by phone
CCTV News Client News Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu had a telephone conversation with Finnish Foreign Minister Haavisto on November 24 local time. According to a statement released by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides discussed issues such as NATO’s eastward expansion, recent developments in Ukraine and the agreement on the export of agricultural products from Black Sea ports. Cavusoglu also stressed that the Turkish side will continue to steadfastly fight against terrorism within the framework of the “Sword” operation.
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in May this year, but were opposed by NATO member Turkey. Turkey has criticized the two countries for conniving or even supporting the PKK, the Syrian Kurdish armed “People’s Protection Units” and the “Gulen Movement”, which are considered terrorist organizations by Turkey. After several rounds of negotiations, the three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding at the NATO summit in Madrid in late June, saying they would strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation. At the moment, only the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments have yet to ratify the accession protocol of the two countries to NATO. (Headquarters reporter Chen Huihui)
