Finland–Turkey Relations

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, İzmir, and Kayseri. Turkey has an embassy in Helsinki.
Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Union for the Mediterranean. Also Finland is an EU member and Turkey is an EU candidate. Turkey did not support Finland's accession to NATO until March 2023, but accepted its participation.

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.

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.
Finland stopped selling weapons to Turkey in 2019 due to Turkey's military operation in Syria.
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.
In January 2023, Finland lifted its embargo on weapons exports to Turkey.

Osman Kavala dispute

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. Following a statement by the ambassadors, reiterating their compliance with Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations regarding the diplomatic duty not to interfere in host states’ internal affairs, President Erdoğan decided to not expel the ambassadors.

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.

Accession of Finland to NATO

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). In May 2022, Turkey quickly blocked the applications for NATO membership of Finland's from proceeding through an accelerated process. In May 2022, Turkey vetoed Finland's NATO membership. Turkey has demanded Finland and Sweden to extradite alleged terrorists linked to the Gülen movement and the Kurdish militant group PKK. 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.
Turkey asked Finland and Sweden not to support the Gülen movement and the PKK.
Turkey asked Finland to stop and end the Kurdish demonstrations.
Turkey asked Finland and Sweden not to support terrorism.
Turkey asked Finland and Sweden to address Turkey's security concerns.
In September 2022, Turkey requested the extradition of 6 Turkish citizens from Finland. However, Finland did not respond positively and refused.
Turkey demanded that Finland end its support to the Gülen movement and the PKK.
In December 2022, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen, in a statement after his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar, announced that Finland was ready to address Turkey's security concerns and that they always condemned terrorism.
In January 2023, President of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Mustafa Şentop cancelled the Finnish Parliament Speaker Matti Vanhanen's visit to Turkey.
After Turkey's parliament approved Finland's application on 30 March 2023, Finland was set to become the 31st member of NATO.Aaron Meht
(30 Mar 2023) Welcome to NATO: Finland clears Turkish hurdle, will join military alliance in coming weeks
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On 1 April 2023, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed and approved the proposal containing Finland's accession protocol.

Economic 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.

Diaspora

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. Around 2,000 Finns live in the Alanya region alone.

European Union

Finland joined the EU in 1995. Turkey is still a candidate country for the EU, and
membership negotiations have been effectively frozen since 2016. Finland fully supports Turkey's EU membership process, as it has effectively frozen membership negotiations.

NATO

Turkey joined NATO in 1952. Finland joined NATO in 2023.

State visits

Resident diplomatic missions

* Finland has an embassy in Ankara.
* Turkey has an embassy in Helsinki.

File:Türkiye embassy in Helsinki.jpg, Embassy of Turkey in Helsinki

See also

* Foreign relations of Finland
* Foreign relations of Turkey
* Finland–NATO relations
* Turkey–European Union relations
* List of ambassadors of Turkey to Finland
* Turks in Finland

References

External links

Embassy of Turkey in Helsinki (in Turkish and English)

Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs about political, economical and commercial relations with Finland

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland about relations with Turkey

Embassy of Finland in Ankara

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Turkey
Bilateral relations of Turkey