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Madrid Summit Not a Deadline for Decision on Finland and Sweden’s NATO Bids, Says Turkey

Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin gives a press conference following talks with Sweden and Finland over their bids to join NATO at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on May 25, 2022. (AFP)
Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin gives a press conference following talks with Sweden and Finland over their bids to join NATO at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on May 25, 2022. (AFP)
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Madrid Summit Not a Deadline for Decision on Finland and Sweden’s NATO Bids, Says Turkey

Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin gives a press conference following talks with Sweden and Finland over their bids to join NATO at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on May 25, 2022. (AFP)
Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin gives a press conference following talks with Sweden and Finland over their bids to join NATO at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on May 25, 2022. (AFP)

A NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June is not a deadline for a decision on Sweden and Finland's membership bids, which are opposed by Turkey, the Turkish president's spokesman said on Saturday.

Sweden and Finland applied to join the Western defense alliance last month in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but their bids have faced resistance from Turkey, which has accused them of supporting Kurdish militants.

While the two Nordic countries have said talks would continue to resolve the dispute, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Ankara had not received any responses to its demands, including stopping support for groups Turkey considers terrorists, lifting arms embargoes on Ankara and extraditing suspects it seeks.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency during a visit to Madrid, Erdogan's spokesman and chief foreign policy adviser Ibrahim Kalin repeated that progress on the membership bids hinged on how Sweden and Finland respond to Turkish demands.

"We don't see ourselves in a time constraint like the NATO summit," Kalin was cited as saying, adding that while the summit was important in addressing common issues like Russia's invasion of Ukraine and cooperation within the alliance, potential allies have to take steps to alleviate concerns of current members.

"We don't feel like we are under any time pressure like 'let us get this done by the NATO summit'. What is important here is that Sweden and Finland openly, clearly and concretely put forth what kind of steps they will take regarding counter-terrorism," he added.

Any bid to join NATO requires backing from each of its 30 members. Turkey, which has been a NATO ally for over 70 years, has said it will not change its view unless the Nordic countries take "concrete steps" about its concerns.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to Washington this week that he would convene senior officials from Finland, Sweden and Turkey in Brussels in coming days to discuss the issue. NATO leaders will convene on June 29-30 in Madrid.

Earlier, Erdogan said NATO was not an organization that could provide protection from terror, citing demonstrations and events organized by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group in allied countries like France, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece, whose envoy to Ankara was summoned over the issue on Friday.

He said Ankara would not "fall for the same mistake" while PKK members "roam free" in Finland and Sweden.

The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and European Union.

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Australians Celebrate and Protest Anniversary of British Colonization

26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa
26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa
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Australians Celebrate and Protest Anniversary of British Colonization

26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa
26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa

Australians celebrated and protested across the country on Sunday as Australia Day drew attention to political differences over Indigenous rights months out from a federal election.
Australia Day marks a British colony being established at Sydney Cove on Jan. 26, 1788, which eventually led to Britain claiming the entire country without a treaty with its Indigenous inhabitants.
Indigenous rights advocates call Jan. 26 “Invasion Day” and protest rallies have been held in major cities, The Associated Press reported. Many argue that Australia’s national day should not commemorate such a divisive event.
Australia Day is usually a public holiday and because it fell on a Sunday this year, Monday has been declared a holiday.
Acknowledging the hurt that Australia Day causes many Indigenous Australians, the most disadvantaged ethnic group that accounts for 4% of the population, many businesses refer to the ”January long weekend” rather than the “Australia Day long weekend.”
Australia Day has in recent decades been the date on which immigrants became Australian citizens in public ceremonies. But several local government councils have chosen to hold citizenship ceremonies on different dates due to the controversy.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government has attempted to accommodate differing views of Australia Day since it won elections in 2022.
The government in 2023 decided to allow public servants to work on Australia Day and take another day off instead, reversing a previous conservative government order that they must not work on Jan. 26 when it falls on a week day.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said that all councils will be required to hold citizenship ceremonies on Jan. 26 if his party wins elections due by May 17.
“If the prime minister doesn’t have the strength of leadership to stand up to mayors and others who don’t want to celebrate Australia Day, then our country’s in more trouble than we first realized,” Dutton said two weeks ago.
Dutton has accused Albanese of “equivocating” on his support for Australia Day to appease the minor Greens party.
The Greens party opposes celebrations on Jan. 26. Many observers, including Dutton, expect Labor will lose its parliamentary majority at the next election and may need the support of Greens lawmakers to form a minority government.
Albanese has accused Dutton of being divisive by declining an invitation to attend Australia Day events in the national capital Canberra.
Instead, Dutton attended a citizenship ceremony in his hometown of Brisbane.
“The national Australia Day event should be attended by both sides of the Parliament. They should be bipartisan,” Albanese told reporters on Sunday.
“Why wouldn’t you participate in national events if you want to be a national leader?” Albanese asked.
Australian National University historian Frank Bongiorno said both leaders were using Australia Day for their own political advantage.
"These figures will insist that they want it to be a day of unity, but they’ll invariably behave in ways that promote disunity around the day. That’s really how culture wars work,” Bongiorno said.
Dutton has accused Albanese of dividing Australia along racial lines by holding a referendum in 2023 on Indigenous rights.
Australians voted against a proposal that would have enshrined in the constitution an Indigenous body known as the Voice to address Parliament on Indigenous issues.
Dutton has also accused Albanese’s government of focusing on Indigenous rights instead of a cost of living crisis facing many Australians due to inflation and high interest rates.