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☆ NATO chief says 'time is now' for Turkey to ratify Finland and Sweden membership bids
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Huseyin Hayatsever | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday the "time is now" for Turkey to ratify applications by Finland and Sweden to join the defence alliance. Finland and Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year and their membership bids have been ratified by all allies except Hungary and Turkey. Turkey says Sweden harbors members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is seen as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and others. "For me, this just demonstrates that Sweden and Finland understand and are implementing policies which recognize the concerns that Turkey expressed. Cavusoglu repeated Turkey's position that it could evaluate Finland and Sweden's bids to join NATO separately.

☆ NATO boss: more important Sweden, Finland join soon than together
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Andrew Gray | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Western officials have said they would prefer both countries to join NATO together, partly because it would be easier to integrate them at the same time into military structures. "The main question is not whether Finland and Sweden are ratified together. The main question is that they are both ratified as full members as soon as possible," he told reporters. "I'm confident that both will be full members and I'm working hard to get both ratified as soon as possible." Stoltenberg said Sweden and Finland had already come much closer to NATO in recent months and noted that all alliance members had approved the invitations to join.

☆ Finland to discuss NATO ratification that may leave Sweden behind
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Anne Kauranen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Our position on Finland is positive, but it is not positive on Sweden," President Tayyip Erdogan said last week. A 53% majority of Finns polled on Feb. 2 for daily Ilta-Sanomat said they did not want Finland to wait for Sweden. For that to happen, Turkey and Hungary need to ratify the Finnish membership first and NATO to officially invite Finland as a member. Finland's Chancellor of Justice Tuomas Poysti told Ilta-Sanomat the process would leave Finland some room to wait for Sweden if need be, but not endlessly. Officially, Finland has reaffirmed time and time again that it wants to join NATO with Sweden.

☆ Turkey's President Erdogan says Western missions will 'pay' for closures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Azra Ceylan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ISTANBUL, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Western missions would "pay" for issuing security warnings and temporarily closing consulates in Turkey last week, while police said there was no serious threat to foreigners after detaining 15 Islamic State suspects on Sunday. Ankara summoned the ambassadors of nine countries on Thursday to criticise their decisions to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts. Turkish officials said the following day that Western nations, including the United States and Germany, had not shared information to back up their claims of a security threat. Erdogan said that the Western states were "playing for (more) time" and that the "necessary decisions" would be taken during Monday's cabinet meeting, without elaborating. While the suspects' ties to the jihadist group were confirmed, no concrete threats toward foreigners were found, the statement said.

☆ Sweden to tighten terrorism law amid tensions with Turkey over NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Sweden's Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer attends a press conference at the first informal ministerial meeting during the Swedish EU Presidency, Stockholm, Sweden, January 26, 2023. Sweden committed to ramping up cooperation with Turkey in fighting terrorism as part of an agreement reached in June aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to Sweden and Finland becoming members of NATO. Turkey suspended talks last month, saying Sweden was not doing enough, after protests in Stockholm including that by Paludan. "Our position on Finland is positive, but it is not positive on Sweden," Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine, but faced unexpected objections from Turkey and have since sought to win its support.

☆ U.S. Congress says F-16 sale to Turkey depends on NATO approval
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress cannot support the $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until Ankara ratifies the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland, a bipartisan group of senators said on Thursday. "Once the NATO accession protocols are ratified by Türkiye, Congress can consider the sale of F-16 fighter jets. A failure to do so, however, would call into question this pending sale," the senators wrote. It was the first time Congress explicitly and directly linked the F-16 sale to Turkey with the NATO accession bids of the two Nordic countries. Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

ANKARA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Turkey summoned ambassadors of nine Western countries including the United States and Sweden on Thursday to criticise their decisions to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts following Koran-burning incidents in Europe. The envoys of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Britain were also summoned, according to foreign ministry sources in Ankara. Germany, France and the Netherlands were among countries that temporarily closed diplomatic missions in Turkey for security reasons this week. The source added that the security of all diplomatic missions is ensured in accordance with international conventions and "allies should cooperate with" Turkish authorities. The U.S. embassy confirmed its Ambassador Jeffry Flake attended a meeting at Turkey's foreign ministry on Thursday.

☆ Turkey's push into Iraq risks deeper conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Amina Ismail | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/Amina IsmailSARARO, Iraq, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Looming over the deserted village of Sararo in northern Iraq, three Turkish military outposts break the skyline, part of an incursion that forced the residents to flee last year after days of shelling. Turkey's advances across the increasingly depopulated border of Iraqi Kurdistan attract little global attention compared to its incursions into Syria or the battle against Islamic State, but the escalation risks further destabilising a region where foreign powers have intervened with impunity, analysts say. EMPTY VILLAGESA Kurdish official, who declined to be named, also said Turkey now had about 80 outposts in Iraq. NEW TARGETSBeyond the humanitarian impact, Turkey's incursion risks widening the conflict by giving carte blanche to regional rival Iran to step up intelligence operations inside Iraq and take its own military action, Kurdish officials say. According to a Washington Institute report, attacks on Turkish military facilities in Iraq increased from an average of 1.5 strikes per month at the start of 2022 to seven in April.

☆ Turkey's Erdogan signals Finland's NATO bid may be considered over Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signalled on Sunday that Ankara may agree to Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden, amid growing tensions with Stockholm. "We may deliver Finland a different message (on their NATO application) and Sweden would be shocked when they see our message. But Finland should not make the same mistake Sweden did," Erdogan said in a televised speech aired on Sunday. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and need all member countries' approval to join. If you don't extradite them, then sorry about that," Erdogan said, referring to Turkey's agreement with Sweden and Finland last June over their NATO application.

☆ Court rejects Kurdish party bid to delay closure ruling till after Turkey elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A supporter of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) holds a mask of their jailed former leader and presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas during a rally in Ankara, Turkey, June 19, 2018. The case against the HDP, Turkey's third-biggest party, comes ahead of elections that pose the biggest test for President Tayyip Erdogan's 20 years in power. Polls show he and his ruling AK Party could lose, especially if the HDP cooperates with an opposition alliance. Earlier this month, the court froze the HDP's bank accounts holding Treasury aid during the course of the trial. But it remains unclear when the court will deliver its final ruling on the party closure case.

☆ Explainer: Why is Turkey blocking Swedish and Finnish NATO membership?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHY DOES TURKEY OBJECT TO SWEDISH AND FINNISH MEMBERSHIP? The PKK is designated a terrorist group in Turkey, Sweden, the United States and Europe. Sweden and Finland want to proceed together, but with Turkey's ire directed mainly at Sweden, Finland could eventually lose patience with the process. COULD NATO EXPEL TURKEY, ALLOWING SWEDEN AND FINLAND TO JOIN? But Sweden, Finland and NATO want to avoid a long drawn-out process.

☆ Protests in Stockholm, including Koran-burning, draw condemnation from Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take necessary actions against the perpetrators and invited all countries to take concrete steps against Islamophobia. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that Islamophobic provocations were appalling. "Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We will continue our opposition to the Swedish NATO application," Thomas Pettersson, spokesperson for Alliance Against NATO and one of organizers of the demonstration, told Reuters.

[1/4] A supporter of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) holds a mask of their jailed former leader and presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas during a rally in Ankara, Turkey, June 19, 2018. Turkey's constitutional court opened the case against the HDP in 2021, drawing strong criticism from Ankara's Western allies. "Even if Erdogan puts pressure on voters, even if he tries to use tricks, he cannot avoid defeat," Demirtas said. 'WE ARE THE PEOPLE'Ahead of the elections, Demirtas' Twitter account has issued daily political messages to its more than 2 million followers. The party currently plans to propose its own presidential candidate, but Demirtas did not rule out backing a joint opposition candidate against Erdogan.

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has notified Congress of the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, sparking an immediate objection from a top U.S. lawmaker who has long opposed the deal. NATO member Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes. The Biden administration has said it supports the sale and has been in touch for months with Congress on an informal basis to win the approval of the lawmakers, however it has failed so far to secure a green light. But a senior U.S. official said he was "doubtful" the administration would be in a position to proceed unless Menendez dropped his objection. The U.S. Congress is also unlikely to approve the sale as long as Turkey refuses to proceed with the ratification of Sweden and Finland's NATO membership.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday that Sweden "cannot escape its responsibilities" by only condemning the incident. Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency said an investigation into the incident was opened after Erdogan's lawyer filed a legal petition. "It is aimed, I would say, as a sabotage against the Swedish NATO application," he said. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said relations with Turkey were important and condemned the incident as shameless. On Sunday, Kristersson said Sweden was confident Turkey would approve its NATO bid but it would not meet all the conditions Ankara has set.

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has told Congress it is preparing the potential $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, sparking an immediate objection from a senior U.S. lawmaker who has long opposed the deal. NATO member Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes. The Biden administration has said it supports the sale and has been in touch for months with Congress on an informal basis to win its approval. "As I have repeatedly made clear, I strongly oppose the Biden administration’s proposed sale of new F-16 aircraft to Turkey," Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. While the sale is still in the informal review process, Congress is also unlikely to approve the sale as long as Turkey refuses to proceed with the ratification of Sweden and Finland's NATO membership.

☆ Sweden says Turkey asking too much over NATO application
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during the annual Society and Defence Conference in Salen, Sweden, January 8, 2023. TT News Agency/Henrik Montgomery via REUTERSSTOCKHOLM, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Sweden is confident that Turkey will approve its application to join the NATO military alliance, but will not meet all the conditions Ankara has set for its support, Sweden's prime minister said on Sunday. "Turkey both confirms that we have done what we said we would do, but they also say that they want things that we cannot or do not want to give them," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a defence think-tank conference in Sweden. Finland and Sweden signed a three-way agreement with Turkey in 2022 aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to their membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "From time to time, Turkey mentions individuals that they want to see extradited from Sweden.

☆ Sweden's foreign minister says NATO talks with Turkey progressing well
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Johan Ahlander | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Talks between Sweden and Turkey are progressing well and Stockholm hopes Ankara will ratify the Nordic country's NATO application well before an alliance summit in July, Sweden's foreign minister said on Thursday. "Things are progressing well, we had an excellent meeting today," Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told Reuters after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara. The NATO application has so far been ratified by 28 of the 30 member countries. "We hope that we can become members at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, at the latest," Billstrom said. Billstrom said Sweden had an independent judiciary and that there was nothing the government could do to change such decisions.

☆ Turkey says it expects more extraditions from Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sweden on Friday deported Turkish citizen Mahmut Tat, who had sought asylum in Sweden in 2015 after being sentenced in Turkey to six years and 10 months in jail for alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). "This is a good start from Sweden that shows their sincerity and goodwill. We hope new (extraditions) will follow in line with this sincerity," Bozdag said in a televised interview with state broadcaster TRT Haber. However, he made clear that Turkey expected further moves from Stockholm before it could ratify Sweden's NATO application. "In line with the trilateral memorandum with Sweden and Finland, they should lift all (arms) embargoes on Turkey, change their legislation for the fight against terrorism, and extradite all terrorists that Turkey wants.

☆ Sweden extradites man with alleged terrorism links to Turkey, media report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Sweden on Friday extradited a Kurdish man with alleged links to terrorism to Turkey as Ankara keeps up pressure on the Nordic country to meet its demands in return for NATO membership, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday. Mahmut Tat had sought asylum in Sweden in 2015 after being sentenced in Turkey for six years and 10 months for alleged links to the Kurdish militant group the PKK. Turkish state television TRT said Tat was sent to an Istanbul prison on Saturday. Turkey said on Wednesday that Sweden and Finland had made progress towards NATO membership but that they still needed to do more to satisfy Ankara's demands on tackling terrorism. Others wanted by Ankara are people with alleged links to Fethullah Gulen - a Turkish cleric who lives in the United States and is accused of orchestrating 2016 failed coup attempt against Erdogan.

☆ Why Saudi Arabia is hosting one of the world's biggest raves
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The kingdom’s Soundstorm music festival, which began in 2019, is back again for its fourth year and will start on Thursday. “(It) is a particularly powerful example because it seeks to bring together young people and women from across Saudi Arabia and the world,” she said. By contrast, Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival, considered North America’s biggest dance music festival, had an attendance of over 400,000 this year. Last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that performers should either “speak up” about Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations or not attend the festival at all. Some however argue that opening up countries to international norms and values can allow for better discussion on human rights shortcomings.

Howitzers fired daily from Turkey have struck Kurdish YPG targets for a week, while warplanes have carried out airstrikes. The escalation comes after a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul two weeks ago that Ankara blamed on the YPG militia. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would launch a land operation when convenient to secure its southern border. Erdogan said back in May that Turkey would soon launch a military operation against the YPG in Syria, but such an operation did not materialise at that time. The defence ministry said on Saturday three Turkish soldiers had been killed in northern Iraq, where the military has been conducting an operation against the PKK since April.

☆ Turkish strikes hit oil installations in northern Syria, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A view shows the aftermath after Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes, in Derik countryside, Syria November 21, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan QeremanAMMAN, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Turkish drones are targeting key oil installations run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, three local sources said, in air strikes which drew strong condemnation from the United States overnight. Turkey's warplanes began conducting air strikes on Syrian Kurdish YPG militia bases in northern Syria at the weekend, prompting retaliatory strikes along the Syrian border. The Pentagon said the Turkish air strikes threatened the safety of U.S. military personnel and that the escalating situation jeopardized years of progress against Islamic State militants in the area. The United States has roughly 900 soldiers in Syria, mainly working with the SDF in the northeast.

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Turkish air strikes in northern Syria threatened the safety of U.S. military personnel and the escalating situation jeopardized years of progress against Islamic State militants, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The public comments represent the strongest condemnation by the United States of NATO-ally Turkey's air operations in recent days against a Kurdish militia in northern Syria to date. "Recent air strikes in Syria directly threatened the safety of U.S. personnel who are working in Syria with local partners to defeat ISIS and maintain custody of more than ten thousand ISIS detainees," the Pentagon's spokesman, Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder, said in a statement. President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey's air operations were only the beginning and it would launch a land operation when convenient after an escalation in retaliatory strikes. This is not the first time Turkey's operations in northern Syria have threatened U.S. personnel.

"We are continuing the air operation and will come down hard on the terrorists from land at the most convenient time for us," Erdogan told his AK Party's lawmakers in a speech in parliament. Meanwhile, the United States has conveyed serious concerns to Turkey, a NATO ally, about the impact of escalation on the goal of fighting Islamic State militants in Syria. Turkey has previously launched military incursions in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, regarding it as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey, the United States and the European Union designate as a terrorist group. NEARLY 500 TARGETS HITTurkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said the army had hit 471 targets in Syria and Iraq since the weekend in what he said was Turkey's biggest air operation of recent times. It cited him as saying 254 militants had been "neutralised" in the operation, a term generally used to be mean killed.

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