Finland: We suspend talks with Turkey

While far-right politician Rasmus Paludan’s burning of the Holy Quran near the Turkish embassy in Sweden made it more difficult for Turkey to approve Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO membership, new statements have come from Finland.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto announced that he will suspend talks with Turkey due to the recent crisis. Haavisto added that it would be better for everyone to take a break from the trilateral talks between Turkey, Sweden and Finland for a few weeks until tensions subside.

The Finnish minister stated that he also met with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, noting that the agenda in Turkey is intense due to the elections, but they hope that the NATO talks will continue. Stating that they do not plan to continue talks without Sweden, Haavisto stated that contact with Turkey will continue as before.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in his statement yesterday, said: “If Sweden cannot respect the religious beliefs of Muslims, they will not receive any support from us in NATO.”