Turkey, Finland and Sweden officials meet to discuss Turkish concerns
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[August 26, 2022]
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Officials from
Turkey, Finland and Sweden were expected to meet at an undisclosed
location in Finland on Friday to discuss security concerns which Turkey
raised as a precondition for allowing the two Nordic countries to join
the NATO military alliance. |
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NATO, Turkish, Swedish and Finnish flags are
seen in this illustration taken May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration |
Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said earlier the first
meeting between officials would aim to establish contacts and
set goals for cooperation that the three countries agreed to by
signing a memorandum of understanding at NATO's Madrid summit at
the end of June.
The two Nordic countries applied for NATO membership in response
to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but were faced with opposition
from Turkey which accused them of imposing arms embargoes on
Ankara and supporting groups it deems terrorists.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has demanded Sweden
and Finland extradite suspects Turkey seeks over
terrorism-related charges while the Nordic countries argue they
did not agree to any specific extraditions by signing the
memorandum.
Finland's foreign ministry remained tight-lipped about Friday's
meeting, refusing to reveal its location or even timing.
"This is a matter of security. If we would tell where Turkey's
high officials are at which time, it would give quite a careless
picture of us," Haavisto's state secretary Jukka Salovaara told
Finland's public broadcaster YLE.
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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