Finland–Turkey relations

Finnish–Turkish relations
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Finland, Ankara	Embassy of Turkey, Helsinki

Finland–Turkey relations are foreign relations between Finland and Turkey. Finland has an embassy in Ankara and an honorary consulate general in Istanbul and other honorary consulates in Adana, Alanya, Antalya, Belek, Bodrum, Izmir, and Kayseri. Turkey has an embassy in Helsinki. Both countries are members of the Council of Europe. Finland has given full support to Turkey's European Union membership process in previous years.

History

The Ottoman Empire recognized the independence of Finland on February 21, 1918. Diplomatic relations between them were established on September 12, 1926. Relations between the two countries were described as being friendly though due to geographical separation, co-operation was limited. The first ambassador to Turkey was established in 1931 and an embassy in 1940. Finnish President at the time, Urho Kekkonen, made a state visit to Turkey in 1971, being the first Nordic head of state to visit Turkey in 250 years. Finnish tourism to Turkey increased in the 1980s, when destinations were established first to Marmara region and later to Alanya and Side. Finland was among the first countries to support Turkey's accession to the EU.^[1]

In 2008, the front door of the Turkish embassy in Helsinki was set on fire. The day prior to that, a Kurdish demonstration was staged by the embassy. Four young men of Turkish-Kurdish background were brought into custody. The Police stated it was politically motivated.^[2] Finland stopped selling weapons to Turkey in 2019 due to Turkey's military operation in Syria.^[3] In 2020, a Finnish citizen was arrested in Turkey, being suspected of having links to ISIS. Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs reported that it was aware of the arrest but refused to comment on it.^[4]

In October 2021, in the wake of the appeal for the release of Turkish activist Osman Kavala signed by 10 western countries, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered his foreign minister to declare the Finnish ambassador persona non grata, alongside the other 9 ambassadors.^[5] However, the ambassadors did not receive any formal notice to leave the country and Erdoğan eventually stepped back.^[6] In October 2021, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin reacted sharply to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who declared his country's ambassador deported. And Marin also asked Erdoğan to implement the European Court of Human Rights decisions and to respect the ECHR judgments.^[7]

Finnish NATO bid

In 2022, Turkey opposed Finland joining NATO because according to Turkey it hosts “terrorist organisations” which act against Turkey (including the PKK, PYD, YPG and Gulen movement). (However, the Gülen movement is on the list of terrorist organizations in Turkey. However, it is not on the list of terrorist organizations in Finland. and the PKK is on the list of terrorist organizations in Turkey and Finland).^[8] In May 2022, Turkey quickly blocked the applications for NATO membership of Finland's from proceeding through an accelerated process.^[9] In May 2022, Turkey vetoed Finland's NATO membership.^[10] Turkey has demanded Finland and Sweden to extradite alleged terrorists linked to the Gülen movement and the Kurdish militant group PKK.^[11] By June 2022 Finland had received 10 extradition requests, of which two were handed to the Turkish authorities. There are around 16,000 Kurds in Finland, some of them being from Turkey.^[12] Turkey asked Finland and Sweden not to support the Gülen movement and the PKK.^[13] Turkey asked Finland and Sweden not to support terrorism.^[14] Turkey asked Finland and Sweden to address Turkey's security concerns.^[15] In September 2022, Turkey requested the extradition of 6 Turkish citizens from Finland. However, Finland did not respond positively and refused.^[16] Turkey demanded that Finland end its support to the Gülen movement and the PKK.^[17]

Relations

Turkey is an important trading partner for Finland. Trade between the two countries totaled $1.3 billion in 2018. Turkey is among the most popular tourist destinations for Finns, with 230,000 Finns travelling to Turkey in 2015.^[18] As of 2021, there were 11,392 people in Finland of Turkish background, of which 8,841 were born in Turkey and 2,551 in Finland.^[19] Around 2,000 Finns live in the Alanya region alone.^[20]

European Union

Finland joined the EU in 1995. Turkey has never been a member of the EU.

NATO

While Turkey became a member of NATO in 1952. Finland has never been a member of NATO.

State visits

Guest	Host	Place of visit	Date of visit
President Abdullah Gül	President Tarja Halonen	Helsinki, Finland	7–9 October 2008
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen	Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Istanbul, Turkey	6 October 2009
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi	Helsinki, Finland	19–20 October 2010
President Tarja Halonen	President Abdullah Gül	Ankara, and Şanlıurfa, Turkey	29–30 March 2011
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen	Helsinki, Finland	5–6 November 2013
President Sauli Niinistö	President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Ankara, and Istanbul, Turkey	12–15 October 2015
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu	Prime Minister Juha Sipilä	Helsinki, Finland	6 April 2016

References

^ "Kahdenväliset suhteet" (in Finnish). Finnish embassy in Ankara. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
^ "Turkish Embassy in Helsinki Defaced". yle news. YLE. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
^ "Finlandiya, Türkiye'ye silah satışını durdurdu". ANF (in Turkish). October 9, 2019.
^ "Finnish citizen arrested in Turkey, suspected of involvement in terror group Isis". yle news. YLE. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
^ "Turkey to declare 10 ambassadors 'persona non grata'". dw.com. 23 October 2021.
^ Gall, Carlota (2021-10-25). "Turkish President Steps Back From Expulsions of 10 Western Diplomats". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
^ "Finlandiya Başbakanı Sanna Marin: Erdoğan'ın tepkisi üzüntü verici". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). October 25, 2021.
^ Toksabay, Ece; Lehto, Essi (13 May 2022). "Erdogan says Turkey not supportive of Finland, Sweden joining NATO". Reuters.
^ "NYT: Türkiye, İsveç ve Finlandiya'nın NATO'ya hızlı üyeliğini bloke etti" (in Turkish). tr.euronews.com. 2022-05-18.
^ "Türkiye'den İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya ilk veto". www.yenisafak.com (in Turkish). May 18, 2022.
^ "Türkiye, İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya teröristlerin iadesi için yazı gönderdi". ensonhaber.com (in Turkish). July 6, 2022.
^ https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12463469
^ "Türkiye'den İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya NATO üyeliği için 10 şart". tgrthaber.com.tr (in Turkish). June 8, 2022.
^ "İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya 10 şart". www.yenisafak.com (in Turkish). June 8, 2022.
^ "Çavuşoğlu: Türkiye'nin güvenlik endişeleri karşılanmalı". www.bloomberght.com (in Turkish). May 18, 2022.
^ "'İade' tartışmasında AKP'ye kötü haber: Finlandiya talepleri reddetti". www.samanyoluhaber.com (in Turkish). September 9, 2022.
^ "NATO'ya girmek isteyen İsveç ve Finlandiya, terör örgütlerini himaye ediyor". Anadolu Ajansı. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
^ https://pxweb2.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__smat/statfin_smat_pxt_13gp.px/
^ "Origin and background country by language, age (1-year) and sex, 1990-2021". Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
^ "Ollilat asuvat upeasti Alanyassa: Maksoi vähemmän kuin yksiö Kalliossa" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

External links

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[1] "Kahdenväliset suhteet" (in Finnish). Finnish embassy in Ankara. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

[2] "Turkish Embassy in Helsinki Defaced". yle news. YLE. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

[3] "Finlandiya, Türkiye'ye silah satışını durdurdu". ANF (in Turkish). October 9, 2019.

[4] "Finnish citizen arrested in Turkey, suspected of involvement in terror group Isis". yle news. YLE. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

[5] "Turkey to declare 10 ambassadors 'persona non grata'". dw.com. 23 October 2021.

[6] Gall, Carlota (2021-10-25). "Turkish President Steps Back From Expulsions of 10 Western Diplomats". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-10-25.

[7] "Finlandiya Başbakanı Sanna Marin: Erdoğan'ın tepkisi üzüntü verici". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). October 25, 2021.

[8] Toksabay, Ece; Lehto, Essi (13 May 2022). "Erdogan says Turkey not supportive of Finland, Sweden joining NATO". Reuters.

[9] "NYT: Türkiye, İsveç ve Finlandiya'nın NATO'ya hızlı üyeliğini bloke etti" (in Turkish). tr.euronews.com. 2022-05-18.

[10] "Türkiye'den İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya ilk veto". www.yenisafak.com (in Turkish). May 18, 2022.

[11] "Türkiye, İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya teröristlerin iadesi için yazı gönderdi". ensonhaber.com (in Turkish). July 6, 2022.

[12] ttps://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12463469

[13] "Türkiye'den İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya NATO üyeliği için 10 şart". tgrthaber.com.tr (in Turkish). June 8, 2022.

[14] "İsveç ve Finlandiya'ya 10 şart". www.yenisafak.com (in Turkish). June 8, 2022.

[15] "Çavuşoğlu: Türkiye'nin güvenlik endişeleri karşılanmalı". www.bloomberght.com (in Turkish). May 18, 2022.

[16] "'İade' tartışmasında AKP'ye kötü haber: Finlandiya talepleri reddetti". www.samanyoluhaber.com (in Turkish). September 9, 2022.

[17] "NATO'ya girmek isteyen İsveç ve Finlandiya, terör örgütlerini himaye ediyor". Anadolu Ajansı. Retrieved 15 May 2022.

[18] ttps://pxweb2.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__smat/statfin_smat_pxt_13gp.px/

[19] "Origin and background country by language, age (1-year) and sex, 1990-2021". Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

[20] "Ollilat asuvat upeasti Alanyassa: Maksoi vähemmän kuin yksiö Kalliossa" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

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