As Finland and Sweden request for membership in NATO, Turkey sends contradictory signals

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a tougher stance against Finland and Sweden joining Nato, the US struggled to receive clarification from Turkey on the seriousness of its objections to their membership ambitions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sent confusing messages to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting at the United Nations. He reiterated his country’s support for Nato’s “open-door” policy and acknowledged Finland and Sweden’s willingness to join the alliance in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He did, however, reiterate Erdogan’s demand that Turkey’s security concerns concerning candidate countries be addressed.

“Turkey has been supporting the open-door policy of Nato even before this war,” he said. “But with regard to these candidate countries, we have also legitimate security concerns that they have been supporting terrorist organisations and there are also export restrictions on defence products,” he said.“We understand their security concerns, but Turkey’s security concerns should be also met and this is one issue that we should continue discussing with friends and allies, including the United States,” Cavusoglu said.

Cavusoglu went on to accuse Sweden of not only supporting organisations related to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, but also of arming Syrian Kurdish militants, whom Turkey considers as an extension of the terrorist group, in an interview with Turkish media.

“Everyone says that Turkey’s concerns must be met, but this must not just be with words, it must be implemented,” he said.