The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlut Chavushoglu “raised a voice” to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde while discussing Stockholm plans to join NATO. This was reported by Reuters sources.
The Turkish Minister, according to the diplomatic source in NATO, told Linda that “he was annoyed by her feminist policy, which brought a lot of tension.”
Reuters interlocutors made it clear to NATO that they did not expect from Turkish officials of such behavior in a “historical moment” for an alliance. “We tried to understand what our Turkish colleague wanted – you know, really wanted,” said the diplomat, who, like other sources, said on conditions of anonymity due to the special delicacy of the issue. “It was embarrassed,” the “jellyfish” reports the word of the source.
In turn, the Turkish diplomatic source presented a different version of negotiations between the heads of the Foreign Ministry. According to him, Chavushoglu “respectfully outlined the position of Turkey”, having rejected, according to him, Linda’s statement that the unwillingness of Ankara to see Sweden in NATO is connected with the “feminist foreign policy” pursued by the kingdom. “Her comments do not help Sweden’s application to join NATO, while statements emanating from Finland are carefully thought out,” said the source.
Turkey, a member of NATO, blocked the beginning of negotiations on the entry into the Alliance of Sweden and Finland. According to Bloomberg, the Turkish authorities put forward a list of conditions in which they will agree to approve the entry of Finland and Sweden.