Why does Turkey have problem with Sweden and Finland’s proposed membership?
Sweden and Finland’s historic bids to become NATO members have hit a roadblock after top Turkish officials took a tough stance against a Nordic expansion of the transatlantic alliance.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Swedish and Finnish delegations “should not bother” to travel to Ankara after Stockholm announced the two countries would send officials to try to change Turkey’s stance. Turkey has targeted the two countries for supporting PKK, Kurdistan Workers Party, which Ankara has designated a “terrorist group”. In response, the Finnish foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, said that while he was surprised at Turkey’s stance, he did not want to “bargain” with Ankara.
There are also some speculations emphasizing the possibility that Erdogan might be targeted for a potential accusation of supporting terrorism. SADAT which appears increasingly to act as Erdogan’s personal militia or a Turkish equivalent of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being scrutinized by the opposition parties in Turkey along with some international actors like Russian Federations, United States and some E.U. countries for supporting, training terrorist organizations like ISIS, Al-Nusra, Boko Haram and Al-Shabab.
