Finland has issued the first commercial export license for
military material to Türkiye since 2019, a key demand for Ankara to
approve Helsinki’s NATO bid, the country’s defense ministry said
Wednesday, Trend
reports citing Daily Sabah.
Riikka Pitkanen, a special adviser at Finland’s defense
ministry, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the export license
granted concerned steel that would be used for armor.
The move comes amid a spat that saw Türkiye on Tuesday
indefinitely postponing upcoming talks with Finland and Sweden on
their application to join the military alliance after a weekend
protest in Stockholm that drew condemnation from Ankara.
The three nations reached an agreement on how to proceed in
Madrid last June, but President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said
Sweden, in particular, is not keeping its side of the bargain.
On Monday, Erdogan said that Sweden should not expect Türkiye’s
support for its NATO membership after a protest near the Turkish
embassy in Stockholm on the weekend including the burning of the
Quran.
Of NATO’s 30 members, only the parliaments of Türkiye and
Hungary have not ratified entry for Sweden and Finland.
The two countries formally applied to join NATO last year.
Türkiye has voiced objections due to the two countries’
tolerance and support for terrorist groups.
Ankara also requested the lifting of the arms export
restrictions that Sweden and Finland imposed after Türkiye’s
military operation seeking to clear northern Syria east of the
Euphrates of the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian offshoot YPG in
2019.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen previously said that
they would consider resuming arms exports to Türkiye.
Swedish authorities in September last year authorized the
resumption of exports of military equipment to Türkiye.
“Since October 2019, no commercial export licenses have been
issued to Turkey,” Pitkanen said.
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