Finland approves military sales to Turkey amid NATO row

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Finland approves military sales to Turkey amid NATO row

Finland approves military sales to Turkey amid NATO row
by AFP Staff Writers
Helsinki (AFP) Jan 25, 2023

Finland's defence ministry said Wednesday the country had issued the first commercial export licence for military materiel to Turkey since 2019 -- a key demand for Ankara to approve Helsinki's NATO bid.

Riikka Pitkanen, special adviser at the ministry, told AFP the export licence concerned steel that would be used for armour.

Finland had suspended new licences for military exports to Turkey in October 2019 due to Turkey's military operation in Syria.

"Since October 2019, no commercial export licences have been issued to Turkey," Pitkanen said.

The resumption of military exports was one of the conditions set by Ankara to give the green light for the Finnish and Swedish NATO bids, which are currently stalled.

In late September, Swedish authorities lifted a ban on military exports to Turkey.

The announcement comes after Ankara on Tuesday postponed NATO accession talks with Sweden and Finland, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Stockholm for allowing protests that included the burning of the Koran outside Turkey's Swedish embassy.

The Finnish defence minister's decision was immediately criticised by one of the parties in Prime Minister Sanna Marin's coalition government.

"The Left Alliance does not support the export of defence materiel to countries at war or violating human rights. We believe that Finland should not grant an export licence for protective steel to Turkey," party leader Li Andersson wrote on Twitter.

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