HELSINKI, June 12 (Reuters) – Security concerns raised by Turkey in its opposition to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership bids are legitimate, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday. , during a visit to Finland.
“These are legitimate concerns. This is about terrorism, this is about arms exports,” Jens Stoltenberg told a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, as he told him was visiting his summer residence in Naantali.
Turkey opposed the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO on May 13 on the grounds that the two countries are harboring people linked to groups it considers to be terrorists, including the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK), and because they halted arms exports to Turkey in 2019.
NATO’s secretary general said Turkey was a key ally because of its strategic location on the Black Sea between Europe and the Middle East, pointing to Ankara’s support for Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24.
“We must remember and understand that no NATO ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey,” added Jens Stoltenberg, using the Turkish pronunciation of the country’s name, preferred by Ankara and President Tayyip. Erdoğan.
Jens Stoltenberg and Sauli Niinisto said talks with Turkey would continue but gave no indication of progress in the negotiations.
“The Madrid summit was never a deadline,” Stoltenberg also said, referring to a NATO meeting to be held in Madrid at the end of June.
(Report Anne Kauranen, French version Benjamin Mallet)