US Secretary of State Blinken: Turkey has raised significant security concerns

US Secretary of State Blinken held a joint press conference with his counterparts after meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Havisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.

Stating that Finland and Sweden are ready to become NATO allies, Blinken recalled that the two countries’ troops served with US and NATO forces in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

“Both are members of NATO’s ‘partnership for peace’ and NATO’s ‘partnership of enhanced opportunities’. This, to put it bluntly, means that their armies work almost seamlessly with the Alliance forces.” he said he.

Responding to accusations that Turkey delayed the membership process of Finland and Sweden, Blinken said that no NATO membership process has progressed as fast as the membership process of these two countries and that the process is continuing well.

“TURKEY EXPRESSED SIGNIFICANT SECURITY CONCERNS”

blinken said:

“Turkey has expressed significant security concerns in this process. And the process is being used effectively and efficiently to address these concerns. Both countries managed to engage with Turkey and NATO to address these concerns with concrete steps. We saw that the two countries took concrete steps to address the concerns expressed by Turkey. So I’m sure this will go ahead. It is progressing through a favorable process and we will see them as members very soon.”

Responding to a question about why the US did not get involved in this issue, Blinken said that this is not a bilateral issue between the US and Turkey and the US will not turn the issue into a bilateral issue.

The US minister stated that the entire alliance is involved in the process of recruiting members and that they support the process of addressing Turkey’s concerns.

Blinken also stated that Turkey has legitimate security concerns and they understand that.

“WE TAKE SERIOUSLY THE SAFETY CONCERNS OF ALL ALLIES”

Finnish Foreign Minister Havisto stated that at the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, they discussed the membership process with Sweden, both Turkey and Hungary.

Stating that Finland, as a future ally, has embraced NATO’s 360-degree security approach, Haavisto said: “We take the security concerns of all allies seriously.” he said he.

Recalling that they established a tripartite working group at the NATO Summit in Madrid and that this group met once in Stockholm and once in Helsinki at expert level, the Finnish Minister said: “These meetings were very good. Many issues have been clarified. As for Turkey’s concern about terrorism, the PKK as an organization is a banned organization in all of Europe, including Finland and Sweden. Therefore, the points made in the tripartite memorandum have been largely fulfilled.” he said.

Stating that the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) still does not have a clear date and plan to address this issue and that Turkey will hold elections soon, Haavisto stated that his hope is that Turkey will take a step as soon as possible.

Swedish Foreign Minister Billström also stated that they discussed the concerns expressed by Turkey within the scope of the tripartite memorandum.

Billström said: “But it should also be understood that the fulfillment of the conditions of this memorandum must take place within the framework of the basic principles of the Swedish constitution, legislation and legal regulations. This is something the Turkish government is well aware of. Everything will be accomplished within these limits.” he performed the assessment of it.

The Swedish minister said that he will visit Ankara soon and they will discuss Turkey’s concerns about the presence of the terrorist organization PKK in this country and compliance with the requirements of the memorandum. (AA)