“This is such a ‘Divide and rule’ attitude,” Toni Alaranta, a researcher specializing in Turkish politics at the Institute of Foreign Policy, describes Erdoğan’s communication.
Foreign policy the institute’s researcher specializing in Turkish politics Toni Alaranta according to this, it is still not worth making hasty conclusions about Turkey ratifying Finland’s NATO membership without Sweden.
The matter came to the news on Sunday evening, when the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan flashed the green light for Finland’s NATO membership in a televised event.
Read more: Erdoğan: Turkey could accept Finland into NATO – “Sweden will be shocked when we communicate differently about Finland”
“We can give a different message about Finland if necessary. Sweden will be shocked when we communicate differently from Finland. But Finland should not make the same mistake,” Erdoğan said in a televised program on Sunday, according to news agency Anadolu.
According to Alaranta, Erdoğan’s message contains a veiled threat to Finland; if something similar to Sweden’s situation occurs in Finland, Finland’s membership will not be ratified either.
Alaranta considers Erdoğan’s communication as if it were a game.
“This is such a ‘Divide and rule’ attitude”, describes Alaranta Erdoğan’s way of communicating.
Alaranta considers that an official statement from Turkey that Finland has fulfilled the points agreed in Madrid would be needed before we can seriously talk about ratification taking place.
Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a “document of understanding” in Madrid in the summer, in which Finland and Sweden gave, among other things, their “full support” to Turkey regarding its security concerns.
The same document also discussed Turkey’s extradition requests, among other things.
Read more: HS went through the “mutual understanding document” of Turkey, Finland and Sweden, here is its key content
According to Alaranta, the key question is whether Erdoğan now admits that Finland would have fulfilled everything that was required in Madrid.
“There should be an official statement on the matter. Until then, it is impossible to say with certainty whether Erdoğan would really be ready to ratify Finland’s NATO membership.”
Past the week has been full of NATO turmoil, and the discussion has come up as to whether it would be possible for Finland to be accepted as a NATO member without Sweden. The line of Finland, Sweden and NATO has been that Finland and Sweden join the military alliance at the same time.
“I have read the situation so that for the time being it is not at the point that Finland would join NATO without Sweden. If relations between Sweden and Turkey remained inflamed in the long term, the situation could be different,” says Alaranta.
#Turkey #Finnish #researcher #Erdoğans #NATO #speeches #worth #making #hasty #conclusions
