NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomes Turkey's decision to start its parliament's process of ratifying the protocol for Finland's accession to the alliance, and said that this will enhance the security of Finland, Sweden and NATO.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Turkey's decision to start its parliament's process of ratifying Finland's accession protocol to the alliance.
"I welcome Turkey's decision to proceed with the ratification of Finland's membership in NATO," Stoltenberg said in a statement Friday.
"This will enhance the security of Finland, Sweden and NATO. I hope the (Turkish) parliament will vote on ratification as soon as possible," he added.
Stoltenberg stressed that approval would make the alliance stronger and more secure.
He pointed out that the NATO headquarters in the Belgian capital Brussels hosted a meeting between Turkey, Sweden and Finland last week.
He pointed out that all parties realized that great progress had been made in implementing the tripartite memorandum, and that the rapid ratifications of Finland and Sweden would be in the interest of all.
"The most important thing is that Finland and Sweden quickly become full members of NATO, not whether they join at exactly the same time," he continued.
Earlier Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his country's approval of Finland's membership in NATO.
"We decided that our parliament should start the process of approving Finland's accession protocol to NATO, based on interest in dispelling our security concerns," Erdogan said.
On June 28, 2022, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding regarding the accession of the latter two countries to NATO, after they pledged to respond to Ankara's demands regarding cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Turkey calls on Sweden to cooperate and take concrete steps in the matter of handing over wanted terrorists to Ankara, instead of being content with "sweet talk," according to a statement by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last December.
The ninth anniversary of its annexation, Putin visits Crimea
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of its annexation to Russia.
Russian state media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea today, Saturday, for a visit marking the ninth anniversary of its annexation to Russia.
State television showed a short clip showing Putin dressed in casual clothes walking with a group of officials, and pledged to broadcast more details within a short period.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, eight years before it launched a war against Ukraine.
Ukraine says it will fight to expel Russia from Crimea and all other territories Moscow captured during the more than year-old war.
On February 24 of last year, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry international reactions and the imposition of "tough" economic and financial sanctions on Moscow.
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