NATO | An Erdoğan spokesman sends a message to Finland: “The Finnish government must decide which is more important to join NATO or protect such organizations”

Turkey presidential Recep Tayyip Erdoğanin spokesperson Fahrettin Altun According to him, Finland must choose either NATO membership or its current political line, which Turkey considers to be supportive of “terrorist organizations”.

“In the end, the Finnish government must decide which is more important: to join NATO or to protect such organizations,” Altun writes.

HS spoke in Turkey with representatives of several opposition parties, but no willing interviewees were found for the Turkish leadership or the ruling party. Director of Communications at President Erdoğan Fahrettin Altun finally sent its answers to the HS questions in writing.

In return for accepting Finland’s NATO application, Turkey has demanded, for example, the supervision of Kurdish organizations and the extradition to Turkey of Kurdish activists who have been granted asylum in Finland. In Finland, allegations of terrorist protection have been dropped, but Altun believes the demands are fully understandable and justified.

“The problem is not that Finland does not understand Turkey. Finland refuses to take Turkey’s security concerns seriously, ”he writes.

If Finland and Sweden want to get under the protection of “the best military alliance in history”, they must also meet the conditions of Turkey. From Erdoğan’s point of view, Finland has so far responded with words, not deeds.

“We want to see concrete and lasting steps to prevent these terrorist organizations from operating. President Erdoğan has presented our concrete expectations to the President of Finland openly and clearly. ”

Altun paints a picture of Turkey, which is threatened by many different terrorist organizations.

“Turkey is located in one of the most dangerous and unstable parts of the world,” he writes.

He first mentions the PKK, which promotes Kurdish self-government, to which Turkey also interprets the Kurdish organization YPG in Syria. In addition to these, Isis is threatening Turkey from Syria and Iraq, Altun writes.

On the other hand, according to Altun, Turkey is also threatened by some communist movements, such as the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Liberation Front (DHKP-C), which carried out a terrorist attack on, among others, the US embassy in 2013.

Then there is Feto, that is Fethullah Gülenin supporters who attempted a coup in Turkey in 2016.

The PKK and the DHKP-C are also classified as terrorist organizations in the EU and the United States, with differences of opinion. A Turkish representative spoke with the Finnish delegation in Ankara last Wednesday İbrahim Kalın stated at the press conference that from Turkey’s point of view, there is no difference between these organizations: everyone is a terrorist.

According to Altun, Turkey has incentives to demand action: Turkey has been in NATO for 70 years and has the second largest army in the military alliance. In principle, Turkey is in favor of NATO enlargement, but believes that it has the right to impose conditions on countries that Turkey is expected to protect with its large army in war.

Turkey the opposition criticized the country’s leadership in interviews with Helsingin Sanomat last week. Representative of the main opposition party CHP Ünal Çeviköz called Erdoğan’s tactic to set its own conditions for Finland’s NATO membership a “clear tactical mistake”.

The Kurdish pro-left party, the HDP Hişyar Özsoy in turn, the accusations of terrorists chased by Finland were considered “ridiculous”.

“President Erdoğan now thinks almost anyone is a terrorist,” Öszoy said.

Both opposition politicians speculated that Erdoğan would use Finland as a pawn to get concessions from the United States.

Read more: “A clear tactical mistake in foreign policy” – HS met with opposition politicians in Turkey criticizing Erdoğan’s demands on Finland and Sweden

According to Altun, the opposition’s criticism does not deserve an answer, so these parties, despite their millions of votes, are suspicious actors.

He says the CHP shares the same political ideology with Syria Bashar al-Assadin with the administration. He acknowledges to the HDP that he approves all his political decisions with “PKK commissioners” and recruits members for the PKK. The Erdoğan administration has passed the party leadership of the HDP behind bars.

“I find the criticisms made by these movements to be critical. We share our criticism directly and openly with the United States, ”Altun writes.

“We do not have to raise any issues through Finland or Sweden. Turkey’s strength, influence and ability are obvious. Our important role in NATO is also clear. ”

Altun calls the situation between Turkey and Finland a “crisis of confidence”.

According to him, the loss of trust has been affected by previous bad behavior. Finland betrayed Turkey’s trust, for example, by joining Cyprus as an EU member together with other EU countries. Turkey occupies part of Cyprus and is the only country to have declared the region independent.

“Turkey’s concerns may not seem to be a priority for Finns. Some may argue that these terrorist organizations have not hurt anyone or perpetrated violence in Finland, ”Altun writes.

However, the demands of the Turkish leadership on Kurdish organizations are a matter of principle.

“How would you feel if a suicide bombing were carried out on Helsinki’s Senate Square, and a country where the perpetrators are considered political asylum seekers would want to join the security organization of which Finland is a member?”

Even if the differences remain unresolved, it seems clear that Turkey’s opposition will delay Finland’s approval of NATO’s application for membership. Finland would like to keep the transition as short as possible, because during that time the NATO countries have not yet committed themselves to protecting Finland from a possible reaction from Russia.

Altun thinks this is not a problem for Turkey.

“NATO membership is a privilege, not a right.”