Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that Turkiye is not favouring two Baltic countries’ membership in NATO. While Turkiye supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity against Russia, the move was unexpected for those unfamiliar with relations between Turkiye and the two Baltic states.
According to the White House, the US president spoke with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in a phone call that lasted just over half an hour. On Twitter, the Finnish president wrote that he “presented Finland’s next steps towards NATO membership” and added that his country “is deeply grateful to the United States for its support”.Turkiye, however, stated that it would prevent the two countries from joining NATO. This process can only be completed if all the member countries unanimously approved the request of the Pact.Turkish President Erdoğan stated that two Baltic countries act like “the guesthouse for PKK”. Sweden implies an arms embargo on Turkiye and leads the arms embargo in the European Union against Turkiye.Turkish President Erdoğan stated that Turkiye had admitted Greece’s re-joining to NATO in the past, and it was a mistake. Greece, ruled by a military junta in the ’70s, had tried to invade Cyprus. As a guarantor state and the United Kingdom and Greece, Turkiye asked to stop the invasion. The United Kingdom did not intend any move and Turkiye started the Peace Operation to Island in 1974. The operation stopped the massacres against Turks, and the Junta collapsed. Greece, in the meantime, left NATO. US provided a “soldier promise” to Turkish President Kenan Evren that Greece in NATO would not create any problem for Turkiye. Erdoğan’s words as a mistake refer to this process.
