Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is alone among NATO leaders in publicly opposing bids by Finland and Sweden to join the alliance. This could be due to the Scandinavian countries' position on Kurds, says this professor.

ANN ARBOR, Michigan: After decades of neutrality, the two Scandinavian states that have, to date, remained out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by declaring an intention to join the American-led alliance. But there is a major obstacle in their way: Turkey.

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said that he will not agree to the entry of these two countries. And as a member of NATO, Turkey’s approval is needed for Finland and Sweden to join.

Erdogan is alone among NATO leaders in publicly stating that he is against the two Scandinavian countries’ joining the alliance.

HARBOURING TERRORISTS OR GRUDGES?

The Turkish president’s opposition is based on his view that Finland and Sweden support “terrorists”. What Erdogan means is that both countries have given protection and residence to members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK – the major armed group mounting resistance to Turkey’s harsh treatment of its millions of Kurdish citizens. 

The plight of the country’s Kurds, part of a large but stateless ethnic group in the region, has long been a bone of contention between Turkey and parts of the international community. Despite the PKK being listed by the United States and European Union as a terrorist group, Finland and Sweden have been reluctant to extradite members of the group to Turkey over human rights concerns.

Erdogan has responded by calling Sweden a “hatchery” for terrorism and claiming neither country has “a clear, open attitude” toward terrorist organisations, adding: “How can we trust them?”