Given that the accession of new countries to the Alliance requires the consent of all NATO members, Turkey’s position threatens the possible expansion of the military grouping. In addition, Erdogan has told diplomats from both Scandinavian countries not to go to Turkey to negotiate their governments’ intentions. Stockholm and Helsinki announced on Monday their intention to send their representatives to negotiate with Ankara.
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Erdogan accuses Finland and Sweden of serving as a “safe haven for Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK)”. The party led a decades-long uprising in Turkey, its main goal being to fight for the creation of a Kurdish state. In Turkey, the PKK is banned as a terrorist organization. The United States has also considered it a terrorist organization since 1997.
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However, Ankara claims that the Western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are an extended arm of the PKK and accused Sweden of allowing them to be financed and recruited by Kurdish militias and their allies. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu said such support was “unacceptable and outrageous.”
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“The fact that these two countries are in contact with members of a terrorist organization, that Sweden is sending them weapons and that they are imposing restrictions on the export of defense equipment to Turkey is against the spirit of the alliance,” he said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin also responded to NATO enlargement. According to him, the very acceptance of both countries is not a problem.
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