NATO expansion: Finland, Sweden and Turkey strike deal on membership
Finland and Sweden have struck a deal with Turkey that sees Ankara drop its objections to the two Nordic countries joining NATO.
In a statement, Turkish President Erdogan said he had obtained “full cooperation” from Finland and Sweden against Kurdish PKK fighters and their allies, after more than three hours of discussions on Tuesday in Madrid, on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
After the talks, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said “we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.”
"As a result of that meeting, our foreign ministers signed a trilateral memorandum which confirms that Turkey will at the Madrid Summit this week support the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO," Finland's President Sauli Niinistö said in a statement released by his office.
"One step forward," Niinistö later wrote on his personal Twitter account.
Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen said "today saw the power of diplomacy and negotiation."
"There is still a long way to go, but we are going there," he added.
Turkey had raised a laundry list of grievances with Finland and Sweden which they wanted to be cleared up before agreeing to lift their block on NATO membership.
And it seems the two Nordic nations have given in to Turkish demands, which included preventing recruitment, fundraising and propaganda activities of the Kurdish PKK group.
Turkey also wanted the extradition of more than 30 people by Finnish and Swedish authorities - some are alleged PKK activists, others are alleged members of the Gülen movement which Erdogan believes was behind a 2016 attempt to overthrow him.
Turkey said it had “got what it wanted” including “full cooperation [...] in the fight against” the
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