Türkiye-Finland ties entered new dimension under NATO: Envoy

Relations between Ankara and Helsinki have entered a new and positive dimension under the umbrella of NATO following the latter’s accession into the alliance, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Finland Deniz Çakar pointed out on Saturday.

“There is a significant revival in our relations as two members of the alliance. Especially in the fields of security and the fight against terrorism, our interior and justice ministries as well as relevant institutions hold regular and alternate meetings both in Finland and in Türkiye,” Çakar told Anadolu Agency (AA) on the sidelines of the annual Slush startup conference in the capital Helsinki.

He said that more frequent meetings enabled both countries to understand each other better while prompting them to solve problems more constructively.

Sweden and Finland requested to join NATO in May of last year in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised objections over the two countries’ protection of groups related to terrorism.

Türkiye endorsed Finland’s membership bid in April but has kept Sweden waiting.

On bilateral ties regarding tourism and trade, Çakar mentioned that mutual tourism showed a slowdown due to the recent pandemic but that positive momentum was caught again right now. “We know that around 120,000 Finnish tourists visited our country last year. We aim to increase this number further. Finnish tourists give special importance to the concept of sustainability because the green transition is highly significant for Finland. Therefore, they have a great sensibility toward issues concerning the environment,” she said.

The ambassador also said that the goal for bilateral trade volume with Finland is to increase it to $5 billion (TL 144.50 billion) in the upcoming years.

“In 2022, our trade volume with Finland reached $2.1 billion. When we look at the trade volume in the January-October period this year, we see that it reached $1.8 billion. There is very little time left until the end of the year and it is possible to reach $2 billion. Thereby, we will have achieved the same level for two years in a row, which is an achievement, because 2023 was not an easy year, both for us and for the world,” Çakar said, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the earthquake disaster in Türkiye as well as the developments in Gaza.

Pointing out the investment opportunities between Finland and Türkiye, Çakar noted that Finland’s manufacturing industry mainly produces main investment goods, while, at the same time, Türkiye is a country that produces mostly industrial intermediate goods and consumer goods at competitive prices.

Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Finland were established with the Friendship Agreement signed in 1924 and relations continue to develop in bilateral and multilateral platforms, including NATO, most recently.