“This is not the end, but a good beginning”
The trilateral memorandum recently signed at the NATO summit between Turkey, Sweden and Finland is “not the end, but a good beginning,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.
“We expect them to fulfill their obligations,” Hulusi Akar said about Sweden and Finland aspiring to join the North Atlantic Alliance at a press conference with his Latvian counterpart Artis Pabriks in Riga, where they discussed defense issues and cooperation with NATO.
As the Turkish Daily Sabah reminds, during the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of last month, the leaders of the three countries agreed on a trilateral memorandum aimed at solving Turkey’s legitimate security problems, which paved the way for Finland and Sweden to apply for membership in NATO.
The agreement stipulates that Stockholm and Helsinki will not support the Kurdish YPG group, which Ankara calls the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, as well as the Gulenist FETÖ movement, which the Turkish authorities blame for the failed coup attempt in 2016.
Turkey, which has been a member of NATO for more than 70 years, has pushed Sweden and Finland to fulfill their obligations.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States and is blamed for the deaths of 40,000 people.
Regarding the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul for the supervision of the export of Ukrainian grain, Hulusi Akar said: “The center is working. Representatives of Turkey, the UN, Ukraine and Russia are working day and night to ensure that ships waiting in Ukrainian ports start transporting grain. in the coming hours and days.”
According to him, Turkey continues its efforts to achieve a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The joint center was officially opened on Wednesday with the participation of representatives of Turkey, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to ensure the safe transportation of commercial food and fertilizers by merchant ships from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
Last week, Turkey, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement to open three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny — for grain stuck for several months due to the ongoing Ukrainian conflict.
Following last week’s breakthrough grain export deal, Turkey’s foreign minister also said earlier in the day that “it’s time to focus on concluding a truce” between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Georgian Foreign Minister Ilya Darchiashvili, Mevlut Cavusoglu praised the grain export agreement signed in Istanbul last Friday, saying that obstacles have been removed “for the export of not only Ukrainian grain, but also Russian grain and fertilizers”, helping to feed the hungry world.
During the talks in Istanbul, the parties agreed to establish a coordination center to conduct joint inspections at the entrances and exits of harbors and ensure the safety of routes.
Turkey has agreed with Moscow and Kiev on a corridor from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa to resume global grain supplies, the Daily Sabah reminds. Expressing hope that the deal will be implemented without any disruptions or problems, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that grain and wheat can then be delivered to those countries that urgently need them. If the deal is successfully implemented, he added, “it can really strengthen trust between Russia and Ukraine.”
“Now it’s time to focus on the ceasefire. This is not just a process that should be carried out at the level of foreign ministers,” he added, declaring Turkey’s readiness to accept and mediate in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to achieve lasting peace.
“As Turkey, we will continue our efforts so that the parties return to the negotiating table as soon as possible,” he added.