Finland's defence minister Antti Kaikkonen said the sooner Turkey ratifies its NATO membership bid the better and it would consider granting arms export permits to Turkey on a case by case basis.
ANKARA, Dec 8 - Finland's defence minister Antti Kaikkonen said the sooner Turkey ratifies its NATO membership bid the better and it would consider granting arms export permits to TurkeyIn an interview with Reuters after meeting his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar in Ankara, Kaikkonen said he could not foresee a timetable for Turkey's ratification of his country's NATO membership application.
The Nordic countries both asked to join NATO this year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but longtime member Turkey refused to endorse their request until a number of demands were met, including taking a tougher stance against Kurdish militants and removing a ban on arms sales. "There have been some discussions with Finnish industry about exports from Finland to Turkey. There are some preliminary talks. I'd say it would be possible in the near future to have some exports," he added.
"Our clear goal is to join NATO hand in hand , and I think it would be best for NATO as well," he said.In a separate interview with Reuters, the head of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and ruling AK Party member Akif Cagatay Kilic said Turkey was in "no rush" to ratify the Nordic countries' NATO bids.
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