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.”
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
Palestinian deputy president discusses Gaza with Egyptian officials
- The discussion also centered on strategies for maintaining stability in the Palestinian territories
LONDON: Hussein Al-Sheikh, the deputy president of the Palestinian Authority, discussed security and diplomatic issues during separate meetings in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati and Hassan Rashad, the Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service.
Al-Sheikh briefed Egyptian officials on the latest developments regarding the Palestinian issue, in the presence of Major General Majed Faraj, the head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service.
The discussion on Sunday also centered on strategies for maintaining stability in the Palestinian territories and progressing to the second phase of US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, as reported by the Wafa news agency.
Officials also aimed to improve coordination and consultation to tackle the challenges facing Palestine and the wider region.
Al-Sheikh is poised to become the Palestinian president in the event of a power vacuum in the Palestinian Authority, currently led by 90-year-old Mahmoud Abbas.
