Jukka Salovaara

The fourth meeting on a joint permanent mechanism between Türkiye, Finland, Sweden and NATO has been held in the Turkish capital Ankara on June 14.

Akif Çağatay Kılıç, the chief adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, chaired the one-day meeting at the presidential complex.

The officials from Türkiye, Sweden, Finland and NATO will come together in Ankara on June 14 to elaborate to what extent Sweden has fulfilled its commitments in the fight against terror specified in a trilateral agreement signed last year. 

A senior Turkish official said after talks with Swedish and Finnish officials on May 25 that Turkey would not agree to the two Nordic countries joining NATO unless specific steps are taken to address Ankara's objections.

Turkey has called on Sweden and Finland to give concrete assurances in their fight against terrorism, particularly the PKK and its Syrian offshoot YPG, if they want to join NATO. The message was delivered to the Nordic states at a three-way meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara on May 25.