Turkey has finally agreed to support Sweden and Finland joining NATO, as confirmed by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on Tuesday, 28 June.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg reported that NATO leaders will officially invite Finland and Sweden to join the alliance this Wednesday.
This Tuesday Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed a trilateral memorandum during the summit in Madrid. This agreement «confirms that Türkiye will at the Madrid Summit this week support the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO,» as mentioned in the Finnish president’s announcement.
Turkey announced that it received all it wanted in talks with Sweden and Finland.
«Turkey has accomplished much in the fight against terrorist organisations,» as mentioned in the announcement from the Turkish president’s office.
Sweden and Finland have agreed «to fully cooperate with Turkey in its fight against Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK» and other Kurdish militant groups, the announcement mentioned.
The countries have also agreed to lift the embargo on arms supplies to Turkey, which was imposed in 2019, when Turkey commenced a military operation against Kurds in Syria.
Both countries have also banned collection of funding and recruitment for Kurdish groups and prevent terrorist propaganda against Turkey, as mentioned in the announcement from the Turkish president’s office.
On Tuesday talks were held by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
For a long time Sweden and Finland refrained from joining the alliance. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has radically changed the security situation in Europe. This is why the public opinion and the opinions of politicians in those countries has shifted strongly in favour of joining NATO.