The de-facto ban by Finland and Sweden prohibits the sale of weapons to Turkey
The Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in a statement on Tuesday, December 6, said that Finland must publicly declare the end of an arms embargo on Turkey.
According to a report by the Associated Press, Cavusoglu made the statement ahead of the visit by Antti Kaikkonen Finland’s Defense Minister. He said, “The Finnish defense minister’s visit to Turkey is important because we have not yet heard a statement from Finland saying they’ve lifted their arms embargo against us”, adding, “We’re expecting such a statement from there”.
This statement comes after both Sweden and Finland have decided to join the military alliance of NATO. After getting approvals to join the NATO by other member countries, Turkey has been holding up with bid to join the alliance accusing the countries of ignoring security threats in Turkey.
Aside from that, the country has also been asking both Finland and Sweden to lift a de-facto ban which restricts the sale of weapons to turkey. They also accuse the Nordic countries of ignoring threats against it from Kurdish militants and other groups that it considers as terrorists, the report said.
Along with Turkey, Hungary is another country that is yet to ratify their application to NATO in their parliament.
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