Finland Establishes Immediate Contact with Turkey Following Erdoğan's Statements

Finland's President Sauli Niinistö has stated that the country has established immediate contact with Turkey following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statements. He disclosed this to Helsingin Sanomat.

Erdoğan remarked the previous day that Turkey might make a decision regarding Finland's NATO membership, which would be a "shock" to Sweden.

Earlier, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that Turkey could discuss the NATO membership applications of Sweden and Finland separately, but the final decisions would be made in Helsinki and Stockholm. During a press conference in Ankara, the minister stated that if relevant decisions are made in NATO or in those countries, Turkey will be able to evaluate Finland and Sweden's bids for joining the North Atlantic alliance independently.

“That is why President Erdoğan speaks about a possible different assessment of Finland's application,” the minister added. According to Erdoğan, Finland should not take the same steps as Sweden.