Holding a joint press conference with President Niinistö of Finland, President Erdoğan said: “We have decided to initiate the approval process of Finland’s NATO accession protocol in our Parliament.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland held a joint press conference following their tête-à-tête and the meeting between the delegations at the Presidential Complex.
“FINLAND’S HELPING HAND IN THE WAKE OF THE EARTHQUAKE DISASTER HAS CEMENTED OUR FRIENDSHIP”
President Erdoğan commenced his speech by voicing his pleasure over hosting President Niinistö of Finland in Ankara. “The helping hand Finland lent in the wake of the earthquake disaster has cemented our friendship,” President Erdoğan said.
Stating that the common will aimed at enhancing the Türkiye-Finland relations had been reaffirmed and the steps to be aimed in the future had been addressed at the talks, President Erdoğan noted that current regional and global matters, including Türkiye-European Union (EU) relations, had been on the agenda of the talks as well, and added: “We attach importance to Finland maintaining its support to Türkiye’s EU membership in a strong manner.”
“BLACK SEA GRAIN AGREEMENT IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE IN TERMS OF GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY”
Underscoring that they had exchanged their views on the developments within the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, President Erdoğan noted that he had conveyed his observations regarding the effective implementation of the Türkiye and EU-led Black Sea Grain Agreement, which he noted was of vital importance in terms of global food security.
Drawing attention to Türkiye’s all-out fight against the world’s most murderous groups, from DAESH and PKK/PYD to FETO, President Erdoğan stressed: “The only NATO country that has defeated DAESH on the ground is us. We believe there is no room for any terrorist organization in the future of our region. We are determined to eradicate the organizations threatening our country’s future and our people’s lives, whatever their names, claims, and the calculations behind them are. We openly voice at every opportunity and on every platform our sensitivity over and determination on this matter. We address NATO’s expansion process within the framework of these facts.”
“NATO WILL PLAY AN EFFICIENT ROLE IN THE PRESERVATION OF GLOBAL SECURITY AND STABILITY”
Stating that Finland’s NATO application process was on top of the agenda of the talks, President Erdoğan said that Finland had since the NATO Madrid Summit taken sincere and concrete steps to fulfill their commitments in the Trilateral Memorandum, and continued as follows: “In consequence of the progress made and sensitivity displayed to address our country’s security concerns, we have decided to initiate the approval process of Finland’s NATO accession protocol in our Parliament. I hope our decision will lead to auspicious outcomes for our Alliance, first and foremost our countries. I believe that NATO, by getting stronger with Finland’s membership, will play an efficient role in the preservation of global security and stability.”
As regards Sweden’s NATO membership process, on the other hand, President Erdoğan said: “We will continue our talks with Sweden on the basis of the Alliance’s principles and our approaches to the fight against terror. I believe our country’s principles and goodwill regarding the progress of the process are now seen in a clearer manner. How the process will continue from now on will directly depend on the concrete steps to be taken by Sweden.”
“FIGHT AGAINST TERROR IS TÜRKİYE’S RED LINE”
Answering reporters’ questions following his remarks, President Erdoğan, in response to a question whether Sweden was putting off Türkiye’s requests or waiting for the elections in Türkiye, said: “I have previously stressed that Türkiye does not have a negative approach to NATO’s expansion, but the fight against terror is Türkiye’s red line. If there is any negative step against Türkiye in its fight against terror, we stand ready to take every kind of stance, wherever that step comes from. Should such an organization as NATO leave Türkiye alone in its fight against terror, we as Türkiye, obviously, will not say ‘Yes,’ to such countries. We have given them a 124-people terror list, but Sweden has yet to take any positive step concerning this terror list. And if there is no positive step, there is nothing we can do. Mr. Prime Minister can be a good person, but what matters to us is the result. So long as we do not see any result, what is worse, so long as such incidents as infiltration even into their parliament continue to take place, our approach will be as same as today.”
