Linking F-16s sale with Nordic states’ NATO bids ‘illogical’: Kalın

The efforts to link Türkiye's demand to buy F-16 jetfighters from the United States with its delayed ratification of Sweden and Finland's bid to join NATO are "illogical and counterproductive," a senior Turkish official has said, repeating that these two Nordic states will enter the alliance once they fulfill their commitments on the anti-terror fight.

İbrahim Kalın, chief foreign policy adviser and spokesman of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attended Türkiye-U.S. Business Forum in Washington late on March 13, where he addressed the participants and answered some questions.

According to the press reports, one of the most frequently asked questions was on Türkiye, along with Hungary, not ratifying the accession protocols of Sweden and Finland, while all the rest 28 allies have already done so.

Türkiye looked at its own security checklist after these two countries applied to the alliance, Kalın said, recalling the three countries signed a trilateral memorandum that outlined the steps Sweden and Finland should take to meet Türkiye's security needs, especially regarding terrorist threats staged by the PKK, FETÖ and others.

The presidential adviser stressed that the Swedish authorities first did not understand the depth of the terrorist presence in their country.

"I think we are in a much better place now than we were a year ago. The Swedish government has underlined that they still need time to put a necessary legal framework in place as Sweden's new anti-terror bill will go into force on June 1," Kalın said, noting, "So this is a timeline that they have, not us. We didn't impose this timeline."

The U.S. and some other prominent western nations are pressing on Türkiye for swift ratification of these two countries' entrance...