ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signalled on Sunday that Ankara may agree to Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden, amid growing tensions with Stockholm.
“We may deliver Finland a different message (on their NATO application) and Sweden would be shocked when they see our message. But Finland should not make the same mistake Sweden did,” Erdogan said in a televised speech aired on Sunday.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and need all member countries’ approval to join. Turkiye and Hungary are yet to ratify the Nordic countries’ membership.
Turkiye says Sweden, in particular, harbors what Ankara says are militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
“We gave Sweden a list of 120 persons and told them to extradite those terrorists in their country. If you don’t extradite them, then sorry about that,” Erdogan said, referring to Turkiye’s agreement with Sweden and Finland last June over their NATO application.
Turkiye suspended NATO talks with Sweden and Finland last week after a protest in Stockholm in which a far-right politician burned a copy of the Qur’an.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country wanted to restore NATO dialogue with Turkiye, but Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday it was meaningless to restart talks.
Cavusoglu also said there was “no offer to evaluate Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO membership separately.”
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Turkiye’s Erdogan signals Finland’s NATO bid may be considered over Sweden
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Turkiye’s Erdogan signals Finland’s NATO bid may be considered over Sweden
- Turkiye suspended NATO talks with Sweden and Finland last week after a protest in Stockholm in which a far-right politician burned a copy of the Qur’an
Second drone in 24 hours found crashed in northwest Turkiye
ISTANBUL: A drone of unknown origin has been found in Turkiye, less than a day after another unmanned aerial vehicle of suspected Russian origin crashed in the northwest, Turkish media reported on Saturday.
According to several independent television networks and the Cumhuriyet newspaper, the drone was found in an empty field near the town of Balikesir, some three hours southwest of Istanbul.
The Turkish authorities had yet to react to the news, but the Halk TV and Haberturk broadcasters reported that the drone was transported to Ankara for analysis.
Citing farmers, several media outlets reported that the crash appeared to have taken place days ago.
The incident, the third of its kind since Monday, comes after Turkiye warned both Russia and Ukraine against letting their ongoing war spill over elsewhere in the region.
The authorities have pointed the finger at Russia for an unmanned aerial vehicle discovered on Friday near the city of Izmit, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Black Sea, which has seen strikes on ships in recent weeks.
According to the Turkish interior ministry, which has opened an investigation, the drone “is believed to be of Russian-made Orlan-10 type used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes according to initial findings.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned against the Black Sea becoming an “area of confrontation” between Russia and Ukraine, which occupy the opposite shores of the body of water to Turkiye.
According to several independent television networks and the Cumhuriyet newspaper, the drone was found in an empty field near the town of Balikesir, some three hours southwest of Istanbul.
The Turkish authorities had yet to react to the news, but the Halk TV and Haberturk broadcasters reported that the drone was transported to Ankara for analysis.
Citing farmers, several media outlets reported that the crash appeared to have taken place days ago.
The incident, the third of its kind since Monday, comes after Turkiye warned both Russia and Ukraine against letting their ongoing war spill over elsewhere in the region.
The authorities have pointed the finger at Russia for an unmanned aerial vehicle discovered on Friday near the city of Izmit, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Black Sea, which has seen strikes on ships in recent weeks.
According to the Turkish interior ministry, which has opened an investigation, the drone “is believed to be of Russian-made Orlan-10 type used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes according to initial findings.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned against the Black Sea becoming an “area of confrontation” between Russia and Ukraine, which occupy the opposite shores of the body of water to Turkiye.
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