Turkey Hopes Sweden And Finland Lift Arms Export Embargo

Presiden Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/Russian Presidential Executive Office)

JAKARTA - Turkey sees a positive attitude towards lifting the arms export embargo in talks with Sweden and Finland - two countries that have signed up to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"We saw a positive attitude towards lifting the embargo on defense industry products during this meeting, this is an encouraging development," said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

Sweden and Finland have banned arms exports to Turkey following the Syrian offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. Ankara considers the group synonymous with the PKK.

In a press conference following the talks, Kalin also expressed Turkey's concerns about terrorism. Turkey expressed hope about concrete steps to tackle terrorism to Sweden and Finland.

Sweden and Finland formally signed up to join NATO on Wednesday, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Turkey's stance against joining Sweden and Finland surprised other NATO members.

Turkey accuses the two countries of harboring people linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt.

All 30 NATO member states must give their consent before new members can be accepted, and thus benefit from collective security guarantees.

In 2019, Ankara received little international support for its plans to establish a safe zone in northern Syria, including locating 1 million Syrians in parts of northeastern Syria that Turkey and Syrian rebel allies have seized from the YPG.