10:33 3 July 2022
Turkey withdraws opposition to NATO accession of Finland and Sweden
Turkey has agreed to support the admission of Finland and Sweden to the organization, Alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg conveyed.
Until now, Turkey has blocked the accession process of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Ankara has made its support for these countries' accession to the North Atlantic Alliance conditional on these countries ceasing their support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Kurdish Common Defense Units (YPG) in Syria (which Turkey considers terrorist organizations), as well as on the lifting of the arms embargo imposed after the Turkish operation in Syria in 2019.
In an issued statement, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö revealed in turn that Turkey's withdrawal of its opposition to the accession of Finland and Sweden was prompted by the signing of a joint memorandum by all three countries to "extend full support against threats to their security."
"NATO countries will agree upon the details of our accession process to the Alliance in the next two days, but the accession itself (of Finland and Sweden to NATO - ed.) is already a foregone conclusion," Niinistö said.
