Turkey agreed yesterday to support Finland-Sweden NATO memberships, on the first day of the alliance’s summit in Madrid.

The three countries signed a memorandum addressing Ankara’s concerns about, among other things, arms exports and terrorism, said NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, who also stressed that “President Putin will have more NATO on his border”.

Washington is talking about a historic agreement on NATO and the unity of the alliance. A US government official also told Reuters that, “Turkey’s requests to the United States for warplanes are not part of the NATO agreement.” He confirmed that Erdogan and Biden will meet during the NATO summit, during which they will discuss other important issues.

Also read: NATO | Sweden, and Finland jointly submit membership application

What’s stated in the memorandum 

• Sweden and Finland are committed to providing full support to Turkey in the face of threats to Turkey’s national security. Finland and Sweden have pledged not to support the YPG/PYD or the organization described by Turkey as FETO. 

Finland and Sweden reject and condemn all forms of terrorism and similar acts. They unequivocally condemn all terrorist organizations that carry out attacks against Turkey and express their deepest solidarity with Turkey, its families, and the victims of terrorist attacks.

• Sweden and Finland confirm that the PKK is a terrorist organization. They pledge to prevent the activities of the PKK and other terrorist organizations, as well as individuals associated with these organizations. Turkey, Sweden, and Finland agree to do whatever it takes to stop these organizations.
• Finland referred to a number of provisions of its Penal Code, under which a number of acts and actions are classified as terrorist offenses. Based on these, as of January 1, 2022, the purpose of participating in the action of a terrorist organization expands. Sweden also confirms that a new, stricter anti-terrorism law will take effect on July 1.
• Turkey, Finland, and Sweden confirm that national arms embargoes are no longer in force. Sweden is changing its national regulatory framework for arms exports to NATO Allies. In the future, the export of defence weapon systems from Finland and Sweden will be based on Allied solidarity and in accordance with the letter and spirit of Article 3 of the Washington Agreement.

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Turkey, Sweden, and Finland agree on the following steps:

• To establish dialogue and a cooperation mechanism at all levels of government, law enforcement, and intelligence services in order to strengthen cooperation on counterterrorism and other similar challenges;
• Finland and Sweden will fight the war on terror resolutely in line with NATO policy forecasts and will take all necessary steps to strengthen legislation by the end of 2022;
• Finland and Sweden will comply with Turkey’s requests for the extradition and expulsion of terrorism suspects quickly and thoroughly, taking into account information and data provided by Turkey. They will also establish the necessary bilateral legal framework to facilitate expulsions and security cooperation with Turkey, based on the European Deportation Pact;
• Finland and Sweden will investigate and ban any funding and recruitment related to activities around the PKK and other terrorist organizations, along with their affiliates and affiliated groups;
• Turkey, Finland, and Sweden pledge to fight misinformation and prevent their national laws from being used to the benefit of terrorist organizations, including activities that incite violence against Turkey;
• Finland and Sweden are committed to supporting Turkey’s greater involvement in existing and future EU Joint Security and Defence Policy initiatives, including the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).

To put this into practice, the three countries are setting up a permanent joint mechanism with the participation of bodies from the fields of Justice, Intelligence, and Security to oversee the implementation of all these steps.

Also read: J. Stoltenberg | “Turkey’s concerns over Finland-Sweden NATO membership are legitimate”

Invitation to join

“I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement paving the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO,” Stoltenberg told reporters immediately after the signing of the memorandum. “Turkey, Finland, and Sweden have signed a memorandum addressing Turkey’s concerns, including arms exports and the fight against terrorism,” he added.

NATO countries have always been able to find “common ground” and resolve their differences, Stoltenberg said. Following the agreement, NATO will “invite” Sweden and Finland to join, he added.

Quadripartite meeting

A little earlier, Finnish President Niinisto had announced that Turkey had agreed to support joint membership of the two countries, while clarifying that the joint statement with Turkey outlined principles.

It was preceded by a quadripartite meeting attended by Stoltenberg, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President, Sauli Niinisto, and Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Anderson.

Also read: Turkey | Fruitless talks with Sweden and Finland on NATO membership – “Attack” on Greece