Trilateral mechanism with Türkiye to continue even after Finland, Sweden’s NATO accession: Finnish Foreign Ministry

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - The trilateral mechanism meeting between Türkiye, Finland and Sweden will continue even after the completion of the NATO accession process of Finland and Sweden, the Finnish Foreign Ministry said.

On Thursday, the third trilateral mechanism meeting between the three countries was held in Belgium and the fourth meeting will be held in spring.

In a statement, the Finnish Foreign Ministry said that during the meetings, the focus was on the implementation of the agreement signed in Madrid in June 2022.

Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum at the NATO summit in Madrid to address Ankara's legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.

The memorandum addresses Türkiye's concerns, including arms exports and the fight against terrorism.

Following Thursday’s meeting, the Turkish presidential spokesman said that Finland and Sweden should take steps to address Ankara's security concerns.

"It is our natural right to expect our allies and other friendly countries to take similar steps regarding Türkiye's security concerns, just as we take the security concerns of other NATO member countries and other non-NATO friendly and allied countries seriously, and immediately act relentlessly against the threats they face," Ibrahim Kalin told reporters at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.