Turkey says it could evaluate Finland NATO bid separate from Sweden
Turkey could evaluate Finland's NATO bid separately from that of Sweden, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Monday(January 30), after protests including the burning of a Koran in Stockholm sparked outrage in Ankara, Reuters reports.
"It is a fair approach to set a difference between a problematic country and a less problematic one. We can evaluate (Finnish and Swedish) NATO applications separately if NATO and those countries make a decision about it," Çavuşoğlu said.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and need all member countries' approval to join. Turkey and Hungary are yet to ratify the Nordic countries' membership.
President Tayyip Erdogan has thrust the debate over NATO expansion into a campaign ahead of Turkey's tight presidential and parliamentary elections in May, rallying his supporters.
Turkey is never against NATO's expansion, Çavuşoğlu added. But the steps taken by Sweden according to a trilateral agreement signed last year are not enough, he said.
Related news
Colorado Supreme Court kicks Trump off ballot, citing ‘insurrection’
Colorado’s Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump cannot run for president next year in the state, citing a constitutional insurrection clause, the BBC reports.
Egypt's Sisi wins presidential election with 89.6 pct of vote
Egypt's National Election Authority (NEA) declared on Monday that incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi won the 2024 presidential election with some 40 million, or 89.6 percent of valid votes, MNA reports.
Number of presidential candidates in Azerbaijan reaches 6
The chairman of the National Front Party, MP Razi Nurullayev, has been nominated to participate in the snap presidential elections, as a relevant decision was made at the meeting of the party held today, Azerbaijani media reports.
EU takes action against Elon Musk’s X over disinformation
The European Union has formally announced it suspects X, previously known as Twitter, of breaching its rules in areas including countering illegal content and disinformation, the BBC reports.
Israel opens Gaza aid crossing for first time as ceasefire calls grow
UN aid has entered Gaza directly from Israel for the first time, as aid trucks from Egypt are stripped by desperate crowds, the BBC reports.
Pope deplores Israeli attack to a church in Gaza: It is Terrorism
Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the death of two women in a Catholic parish in Gaza, where he said "unarmed civilians" were being targeted by shootings and bombings, IP reports.
