HS in Turkey Turkish opposition parties criticize Erdoğan’s demands on Finland and Sweden: “A clear tactical mistake in foreign policy”

Harsh

We turn around on a narrow side street in the center of Ankara, the capital of Turkey. The inconspicuously light apartment building is separated from the neighbors by a barbed wire fence around the front yard and a booth where a security guard performs a security check.

Left Party HDP MP Hişyar Özsoyn is happy to talk to the Finnish media.

The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğanin talk of Kurdish terrorists “screaming” at Finland makes Özso burst into frustration.

The HDP is the most important legal party in Kurdish rights in Turkey, and Özsoy is happy to speak to the Finnish media.

“President Erdoğan thinks now almost anyone is a terrorist. If he does not like the opinions of any person or state, they will be branded as terrorists or protectors of terrorists. Finns should not take those speeches in person, ”says Özsoy.

His party leaders are in jail on charges of terrorism.

“According to President Erdoğan, in fact, you are still talking to a terrorist. I am a Member of Parliament, but I have been charged. That’s ridiculous. So nothing more than a welcome to the club, Finland. ”

In Turkey the opposition has little power to influence relations between Finland and Turkey. Özsoy doubts that the matter can be resolved by the Finnish leadership either. Finland is only a tool in the controversy that existed before Finland’s possible NATO membership.

“I do not think that Finland can do anything that would have a positive effect on the situation. Negotiations are not really between Finland and Turkey or Sweden and Turkey, but between Turkey and the United States. “

In Özsoy’s opinion, the specific issues that the Turkish leadership says it is blaming Finland for do not matter much. The aim is simply to create a situation in which NATO leaders have to trade with Turkey.

Turkey In recent days, the media have praised the Finnish leadership for promising to take Turkey’s concerns into account and monitor Kurdish organizations more closely. Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) announced on Tuesday that the Finnish delegation would hold talks in Ankara on Wednesday.

This annoys Özsoy.

“We are really surprised at how both Finnish and Swedish politicians and governments have gone so defensively. It is difficult for us to understand why Finland has set out to compromise and please the Turkish leadership. It looks ridiculous, ”he says.

“It is completely unnecessary for Finnish politicians to explain that there are no terrorists in Finland and that Finland does not support terrorism. With their reassurances, they answer completely irrelevant questions. ”

From the HDP’s point of view, Finland has enjoyed a reputation as a democratic and neutral country whose people care about human rights and the rule of law.

In Finland there is no significant Kurdish population. Sweden, on the other hand, has been a very active advocate of Kurdish rights.

Özsoy finds it outrageous that the Turkish ambassador even had time to demand that the Swedish Kurdish MP Amineh Kakabavehin extradition to Turkey under the guise of terrorist links. Kakabaveh is not even Turkish, Özsoy gasps.

“We assume that Finland acts as a rule of law. I don’t think for a moment that the situation will be solved by Finland talking nice and starting to control individual Kurds. ”

Özsoy points out that the Kurds who have been exiled are already living in difficult conditions.

“It will be a great disappointment to us if the Finnish and Swedish governments bow to these outrageous demands.”

Özsoy finds it shameful that Erdoğan is using his veto in NATO to further his own interests. He believes that in reality the president is pushing for the lifting of sanctions against Turkey, the fighter dealings with the United States and the withdrawal by NATO countries of support for the Kurds who fought against the Isis in Syria.

“And when the Turkish economy is in such a bad mess, I wouldn’t be surprised even if he just asked for money next time,” Özsoy jokes.

Turkey indeed, domestic politics undoubtedly influences the kind of fire speeches Erdoğan gives.

The elections will take place next year, and the Erdoğan AKP has faced much criticism not only of the economy but also of the refugee agreement with the EU, which is widely considered a failure in Turkey.

Özsoy still does not have high hopes for the opposition’s chances of winning the election.

“Erdoğan may win because the opposition has failed to provide a good enough and easy-to-understand alternative.”

Although the HDP is the country’s largest legitimate Kurdish party, it does not even intend to try to raise the Kurdish issue before the next election.

“In today’s climate, you can’t even talk about it.”

Finns they can decide for themselves whether to go to NATO, Özsoy says. There is no question about it on behalf of HDP. However, he warns that NATO will not necessarily bring mere stability and security when it comes.

In Syria, the Kurds fought against Isis with US support until they were left alone with the presidents of Turkey, Russia and Syria. Bashar al-Assadin at the mercy of the troops. A huge number of Kurdish fighters have died in the war. The rest are trying to survive somehow.

“Rojava [Kurdien itsehallintoalue Syyriassa] is a sensitive place for us. The Kurds fought against Isis for themselves but also for the rest of humanity. They have been deceived many times, and I think we all owe them. ”

Turkey the headquarters of the main opposition party, the CHP, is an impressive retrofuturist colossus.

A red carpet leads to a stone staircase in a lobby three or four storeys high, the back wall of which is decorated with the father of the party and the whole of modern Turkey. Kemal Atatürkin picture.

Chief Adviser to the CHP Party Leader Unal at Ceviköz has three assistants in his 11th floor office. One directs us from the hallway to the office, another makes sure the Titles are known to the editor, and a third asks if we want tea.

Ceviköz is a former ambassador who began his career in the 80s in the Soviet embassy. At that time, Finland was a place where Moscow’s diplomats were transported for medical treatment.

Ceviköz’s perspective on Finland’s NATO dilemma is also historic.

“After all, Finland never showed interest in NATO, not during the Cold War or even after the break-up of the Soviet Union. At that time, there was a balance in which you were simply not directly threatened. ”

According to Ceviköz’s analysis, the situation changed as NATO began to expand and Russia claims it is a threat that violates the NATO-Russia Treaty.

“It simply came to our notice then. Russia, of course, wants to interpret things for itself, but I myself was involved in concluding that agreement, and we never let Russia know that they would have any veto over NATO enlargement. ”

Finland Ceviköz believes that the security concerns he is experiencing are fully justified by Russia’s recent hostilities. The CHP would be ready to support Finland’s NATO membership.

However, the CHP cautiously agrees with Erdoğan’s allegations of terrorism: Finland has not responded to Turkey’s security concerns with sufficient sensitivity. However, this should not be a reason to interfere in Finland’s application for NATO membership.

“Some PKK people may have fled to Finland. I do not don’t know who. But whatever it was, this is a bilateral problem that Turkey should deal with directly with Finland, ”says Ceviköz.

“Raising this issue as an obstacle to Finland’s NATO membership is a clear tactical mistake for Erdoğan in foreign policy. No wonder it has provoked strong reactions from our NATO partners. ”

Ceviközin believes that Turkey should focus on getting its views on the terrorist threat posed by Kurdish organizations directly through NATO. It could request that NATO’s rules include an obligation to combat the terrorist threat expressed by Turkey, for example by monitoring the activities of Kurdish organizations in NATO countries in the name of common security.

“Of course, this would also bind future member states such as Finland.”

The Turkish leadership should not forget that Finland and Sweden once supported Turkey’s possible EU membership, Ceviköz says. He mentions, among other things, that Atatürk himself liked Finland.

“I am sure that the discussions went now, but Finland will end up in NATO and have good relations with Turkey,” Ceviköz concludes with an interview.

“And hey, do you know the concept of Finnishization known in the field of international politics? That’s a pretty humiliating term for you, isn’t it? Well, after joining NATO, you can relax, that’s the end of Finnishness. ”

The HS also requested an interview with the AKP, Erdoğan’s party, for this case, but no reply was received by Wednesday morning.