Finland Has Positive Prospect Of NATO Membership - Turkish Foreign Minister

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2023) Finland has a positive prospect in the process of joining NATO, by not issuing provocations like Sweden, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

On May 18, 2022, against the backdrop of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership. Their accession protocols have already been ratified by all NATO members except Hungary and Turkey. Last Saturday, Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the far-right Danish political party Stram Kurs, burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm after receiving permission for a protest from the Swedish authorities. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the demonstration and said Sweden should not count on Ankara's support for its NATO bid.

"We have said from the very beginning that we have few problems with Finland. But both countries, including NATO, a number of alliance members have announced a parallel process of membership of these countries (Finland and Sweden). In this regard, a trilateral memorandum was signed. Since that day, positive statements have been made by Finland, positive steps have been taken in the restrictions on the supply of weapons. There were no provocations, as it was in Sweden," Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with his Portuguese Foreign Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho in Ankara.