- Finland’s parliament has already approved joining Nato, but the bill would need to be signed into law by the president within three months, setting a deadline on how long it needs to wait.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has lifted his veto on Finland’s application to join Nato, a move that strengthens the west’s ability to withstand any future Russian threat across the Baltic Sea but leaves Sweden’s parallel bid for Nato membership unresolved.
After a choreographed meeting with the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, in Ankara, Erdoğan said he would recommend to the Turkish parliament that it vote to back Finland’s application to join, becoming the 31st member of the alliance. He said he hoped the vote would happen before the Turkish elections in May.
Finland says Nato membership incomplete without Sweden, as Turkey lifts veto – video
Article | Tending the garden: Secretary Blinken’s visit to Turkey and Greece
- In an attempt to open doors and reconfirm trust with Washington’s regional allies, Secretary of State Blinken is visiting Turkey and Greece to listen, tell truth to power in Ankara, recognize the friendship with Athens, and be ready to make progress with both countries.
Memorandum of understanding on common policies (January 30, 2023)
Mavi Boncuk | CHP led “Memorandum of Understanding on Common Policies” have more than 2,300 promises, goals, policies under 75 sub-themes. Not one method or strategy to implement any one of them was even hinted of mentioned. They must win the parliament on top of that.
30.01.2023
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON COMMON POLICIES (JANUARY 30, 2023)
Turkey summons nine Western ambassadors over security alerts – Reuters
President Erdoğan’s increasingly hostile stance towards Nato and democratic principles can no longer go unpunished
That Turkey is a “vital strategic ally” of the west is the sort of truism on which people such as Joe Biden and Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, are raised. Yet what if the old saw no longer holds true? What if Turkey’s leader, exploiting this notion, betrays western interests in a pretence of partnership? Should not that leader be treated as a liability, a threat – even ostracised as an enemy?
Finland still hopes to join Nato together with Sweden, Finland’s foreign minister has said, after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, remarked that Ankara could accept Helsinki’s bid without its Nordic neighbour.
“Our strong desire in Finland has been and still is to join Nato together with Sweden,” Pekka Haavisto told reporters in Helsinki, adding: “Our position remains the same.”
Originally published on Global Voices
This year marks the 100th year since the founding of the Republic of Turkey. May 14 of this year will also mark Turkey’s highly-anticipated general election. Pundits who have been watching the country’s political turmoil brought by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) describe the upcoming May vote as crucial — or as Bobby Ghosh described in his recent Bloomberg piece, “the most important election of 2023.” It is a choice between democracy, equality, the rule of law, and secularism and everything that stands against these values — authoritarian policies, lack of freedoms, and a growing influence of religion over the state.
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