Citing their support for Kurds, Turkey has blocked fast-tracking NATO membership votes for Finland and Sweden, who seek to join the alliance to protect against potential aggression from Russia, the New York Times reports.
Turkey has accused Finland and Sweden of supporting Kurdish “terrorists” who seek autonomy for their traditional lands, which encompasses parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. The independence of the Kurds has been an issue in the region for centuries.
“It wouldn’t be wrong to say that we are bittersweet watching the solidarity and cooperation in the region, the sources used, the arms opened, the tolerance shown,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in address to the Turkish parliament. “Because we, as a NATO ally who struggled with terror for years, whose borders were harassed, big conflicts occurred just next door, have never seen such a picture.”
National security experts do not believe Turkey will ultimately block the two nations from joining NATO, which requires unanimous consent of its member nations to approve expand its membership. Instead, they believe this objection is a Erdogan tactic to voice their concerns about the Kurds that will be addressed by the current members.