President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated on Monday night that it was opposed to Finland’s and Sweden’s membership of NATO, saying that Turkey did not intend to support either country as a member of NATO.
Iltalehti tells about it that at the same time Erdoğan showed that it would be pointless for Finland and Sweden to send negotiators to Ankara to discuss the matter.
Erdoğan’s protests focused on three issues – guns, Kurdish nationalists and supporters of the Turkish priest. Fethullah Gülen.
Finland froze arms export licenses to Turkey in 2019, when Turkey invaded areas controlled by Kurdish forces across the Syrian border.
Turkey has accused both Finland and Sweden of acting as safe havens for terrorists. In this context, Turkey refers to supporters of the PKK and Fethullah Gülen. Iltalehti pointed out that Turkey has continued to accuse both countries of supporting the Kurdish YPG in Syria.
Gülen has been accused of attempting a 2016 coup in Turkey, and his supporters are said to have formed a group called Fetö, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization.
Iltalehti pointed out to the Turkish media that Finland and Sweden have rejected more than 30 requests for the extradition of supporters of the PKK and Gülen.
The Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah says that in the last five years, Turkey has demanded that Finland extradite six Fetus and six PKK supporters to terrorism charges. Sweden, for its part, has been asked to return a total of 21 alleged terrorists to Turkey.
Sabah quotes the Turkish Ministry of Defense as saying that Finland and Sweden have rejected a total of 19 extradition requests from terrorist suspects.
According to Iltalehti, the extradition of two suspects – seven from Sweden – to Turkey is currently being processed in Finland.
Parliament continues the debate, support from France and the Baltics
On Monday, Parliament began a marathon debate on the government’s report on Finland’s changed security environment – including joining NATO.
During the debate, which lasted more than 14 hours, 212 speeches were made. First Vice – President Antti Rinne (SDP) formally closed the first session 20 minutes after midnight, According to Ilta-Sanomat.
The newspaper said the second plenary session on Tuesday will focus on the report of the Foreign Affairs Committee and possibly end with a vote on joining NATO. The debate is expected to begin at noon.
If the vote is held, Ilta-Sanomat estimates that it will go by an overwhelming majority, as only about 10 MPs in Finland’s 200-seat parliament oppose Finland’s NATO membership.
In its evening statement, the newspaper also said that the French presidency announced on Monday that the country was ready to support Sweden and Finland politically and through “enhanced military interaction” and to protect the country from all threats and attacks.
“Anyone trying to test European solidarity by threatening or attacking their sovereignty … must be sure that France will stand side by side with Finland and Sweden,” Elysée said in the English version of the press release.
At the same time, a resident of Jyväskylä Central Finland said that the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued a joint statement promising the full support of the Baltic states for the membership of Finland and Sweden.
Norway, Denmark and Iceland also undertook a joint statement earlier on Monday to support Finland and Sweden in the NATO application process.
Hockey: Finland 4 – USA 1
Hufvudstadsbladet described Finland’s 4-1 victory over the USA in Tampere on Monday night "the perfect sequel to the World Cup".
It wrote that three wins from as many games as possible, the start of the championships could not have been better for the Finnish Lions. According to it, playing against the USA sent strength to both the game and the ability of Finnish players to control their nerves.
A week ago, the situation looked anything but bright for the Finnish national team, which had suffered four losses in a row.
After winning Norway (5-0) and Latvia (2-1), the USA was the team’s first real test in the championship series, and the lions proved capable of meeting the challenge when needed.
Hufvudstadsbladet said Monday’s match against the US was a completely different hockey match than the preliminary matches against Norway and Latvia. Lions played at a completely different level than the first two, and the team proved to endure the physical and undisciplined style of the Americans.
Finland will next meet Sweden on Wednesday night.
Wet but warming
Iltalehti tells its readers that warm temperatures are expected in the coming days, but only in the western and southern parts of the country.
According to Foreca Meteorologist Juha Föhr, daytime temperatures can rise up to 20 degrees in the sunny parts next weekend. But before that, a lot of rain is expected.
Föhr points out that May is often drier than it is today, but this week’s humid weather is a good thing
"It is important that it rains so that we have the summer we want," Föhr told Iltalehti.
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Source: The Nordic Page