Turkish Foreign Minister Says Discussed NATO Enlargement With Finnish Counterpart

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday he had discussed the enlargement of NATO with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto before the visit of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto to Turkey

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2023) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday he had discussed the enlargement of NATO with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto before the visit of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto to Turkey.

"Met FM @Haavisto (Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto) prior to the visit of the President of Finland. Discussed NATO enlargement. Thanked (Finland) for the earthquake support," Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

On Thursday, the Finnish president started his two-day working visit to Turkey. He visited the south-eastern regions affected by the February earthquakes. The negotiations between the president of Finland and his Turkish counterpart will take place in Ankara.

Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022 on a par with Sweden, following the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 of that year.

By the end of 2022, 28 out of 30 NATO member states ratified the country's application, with the exception of Turkey and Hungary. Ankara said it was delaying the approval of the two Nordic countries' accession due to their ties with "terrorist organizations," referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish parliament started the ratification process of Finland's membership alone. Tensions with Sweden are ongoing due to a provocative Quran-burning demonstration that a far-right activist staged in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January with the Swedish authorities' approval.