Finland has granted permission to export military equipment to Turkey, the Finnish Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday, overturning a suspension in place since autumn 2019.
The resumption of arms authorizations was one of the conditions established by Turkey with Finland and Sweden to give the green light to the entry of these two Nordic countries into NATO.
Stockholm had already given the green light to this condition at the end of September.
The export license was granted on Tuesday, authorizing the sale of armored steel to a Turkish company, explained Riikka Pitkanen, a special adviser to the Finnish Defense Ministry.
“As of October 2019, no commercial export license had been granted to Turkey,” Pitkanen confirmed.
The announcement comes at a time when negotiations with Ankara on Swedish and Finnish NATO membership are at a standstill, due to anti-Turkish protests in Stockholm last weekend.
The resumption of exports is part of a memorandum of understanding signed last June between the three countries.
The Finnish Defense Minister’s decision was immediately criticized by one of the Prime Minister’s coalition government parties, Sanna Marin.
“We do not support the export of military material to countries at war or that violate human rights. We believe that Finland should not allow the export of armored steel to Turkey,” reacted the leader of the Left Alliance party, Li Andersson.
For now, Turkey and Hungary are the only countries in the 30-member Alliance that have not yet ratified Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO membership.
Source: TSF
