“Bow” to Erdogan?
NATO deal also met with indignation in Sweden
Created: 06/30/2022, 05:16
By: Florian Naumann
Handshake before the NATO deal: Magdalena Andersson welcomes Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
© Murat Cetin Muhurdar/AFP
Turkey opens the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
But especially in Sweden, the relief is mixed with concern.
Has one "bowed down to a tyrant"?
Madrid/Stockholm – The news came as a surprise – and it caused general relief: After weeks of wrangling, Turkey gave the green light for Sweden and Finland to join NATO on Tuesday evening.
The foreign ministers of the three countries signed an agreement in front of the cameras.
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wanted to officially invite Sweden and Finland to the alliance.
In the afternoon there was the official go-ahead from the NATO summit.
Stoltenberg previously spoke in the Finnish newspaper Hufvudsstadsbladet
of a “completely changed security situation in the entire Baltic Sea region”
– in a positive sense.
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) probably also formulated a general hope for the NATO countries: this time Putin had not succeeded in "dividing us as allies," she explained in the ZDF "Morgenmagazin".
But after the negotiation breakthrough, more detailed looks now follow: How big are the concessions made by Sweden and Finland to Recep Tayyip Erdogan?
Maybe too big?
A debate is already smoldering in Sweden.
Even a vote of no confidence in Foreign Secretary Ann Linde is being discussed.
Erdogan deal triggers outrage in Sweden: "Bow to an authoritarian regime"
Turkey already expressed the first concrete demands on Wednesday afternoon.
A total of 33 "terror suspects" from the ranks of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party PKK and the Gülen movement are to be extradited to Sweden and Finland, said Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag.
He referred to the freshly negotiated agreement.
Objections and concerns are growing, especially in Sweden.
Probably also because the contents of the agreement are not clearly communicated.
The left Vänsterparti and the Swedish Greens of the Miljöparti called for clarity on Wednesday.
"Call the party leaders together and explain what the government has agreed to do, put your cards on the table!" Vänsterpartiet leader Nooshi Dagostar demanded, according to a report by
Svenska Dagbladet
.
Their fear: It looks as if a "foreign power" could now determine who will be expelled and what may be published in Swedish newspapers.
Miljöpartiet politician Märta Stenevi said she was "slightly shocked" by the "bowing down to an authoritarian regime" on SVT.
She announced that she would summon Foreign Minister Linde to the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Weeks ago, politicians from the Liberals and Christian Democrats, for example, had called for Erdogan not to make any concessions.
Sweden: Trouble after the NATO deal with Erdogan - Kurdish politicians appalled
Unsurprisingly, politicians with Kurdish roots in particular were now concerned.
Accusations of the rather shaky minority government led by Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson were poured down from left-wing parties in particular.
Sweden has “bowed down to a tyrant,” non-party MP Amineh Kakabaveh told TV4 Nyheterna.
The former Vänster politician also threatened a vote of no confidence in Linde if there was no explanation of the Swedish-Turkish deal.
At the same time, Kakabaveh turned his attention to the Syrian-Kurdish YPG, which Sweden is now likely to refuse further support.
NATO is "cheating" a group that fought against IS at great cost.
The majority of the parties rejected a ministerial overthrow on Wednesday;
in Sweden there will be elections in September anyway.
But Linde will probably not be able to avoid a delicate questioning in Parliament.
In the past few weeks, the Turkish search for alleged and alleged terrorist supporters had made waves in Swedish politics: The Erdogan newspaper
Turkiye Gazetesi
pilloried five politicians of Kurdish origin.
Among them, for example, the social democratic EU parliamentarian Evin Incir.
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What is in the NATO deal between Sweden, Finland and Turkey: The problem of "terror"
The Turkish state broadcaster TRT published the alleged contents of the NATO paper, which was negotiated surprisingly quickly, on Tuesday.
In addition to the lifting of an arms embargo, the main focus was on the sensitive issue of "terror".
Later, the Swedish newspaper
Dagens Nyheter
also published points of agreement.
The reports listed Swedish-Finnish commitments, among others:
Solidarity with Turkey in the "fight against terrorism in all its forms"
No support for the YPG and Gülen organization
Concrete steps in the repatriation of 'terrorist suspects' - taking into account 'evidence' provided by Turkey
Preventing "terror propaganda" against Turkey
Dagostar may also have referred to the last point.
What is explosive about the list is that Turkey uses the term "terror" in a different form that is often unsettling for foreign observers.
Turkey expert Salim Cevik recalled on Tuesday that in the past five years - since a failed coup attempt against Erdogan - two million terrorist charges have been filed in the country.
All European countries should therefore "continue to ignore Turkey's demands for the extradition of 'terrorists'," he told
Bild
.
Erdogan dispute in Sweden: Andersson makes the first promise – experts are surprised at the agreement
In a first reaction, Andersson promised on Wednesday afternoon "never to extradite Swedish citizens" to Turkey.
Turkey's first extradition request will also be processed "in accordance with Swedish law".
These requirements were also “clearly” communicated in the talks.
Andersson emphasized that the agreement itself also strengthens Sweden's security: those who do not engage in terrorist activities need not worry.
However, there was also a lot of relief to be read about the agreement in the NATO dispute - especially in Finland.
The Stockholm Turkey expert Paul Levin was on the one hand "slightly surprised" on the Finnish radio YLE that, given the different definitions of terror, an agreement with Turkey was even possible.
In principle, Erdogan uses the term "to persecute critics of the regime".
The successful deal is mainly due to the fact that Finland and Sweden in particular were willing to make major concessions.
With a view to joining NATO, Levin said: "This is huge progress for Finland and Sweden."
Turkey gives the green light for Sweden and Finland - but problems remain possible: "It won't be easy"
Meanwhile, there is also more general concern - and open distrust, even in the conservative media.
Svenska Dagbladet
correspondent Therese Larsson Hultin, in an editorial for the paper, expressed a broader vague concern - based less on facts than on general unease about Turkey's political goals.
Erdogan's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu looked "happy to say the least" when the memorandum was signed, she said.
The journalist fears that this could be a harbinger of further problems.
Levin also warned with a view to the further progress of the cooperation.
When it comes to dealing with the Kurds, Turkey is dealing with "a security issue and a question of terrorism," while Sweden is dealing with "minority rights."
Even if the countries have now made concessions to Erdogan: "It will still not be easy to reconcile the different points of view." (
fn
)
