Pekka Haavisto explains that a coffee break was a pivotal point during the fraught negotiations.
According to Pekka Haavisto, the Finnish Foreign Minister revealed that the deal reached with Turkey was partly due to a coffee break.
Tense negotiations had been underway for weeks after Ankara announced in May that it wouldn’t support the two Nordic nations’ bids to join the US-led military alliance. The Turkish government accused the two nations of harbouring terrorists, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and supporting Turkey’s arms embargoes.
The two sides met several times in Ankara, Brussels and failed to reach common ground over a variety of issues. According to diplomats, even Foreign Minister Haavisto was surprised when an agreement was reached before the NATO summit in Madrid.
It “intense”Top-level negotiations in Spain’s capital lasted two hours. However, Turkey, Finland, Sweden leaders still couldn’t agree on some issues, just repeating earlier positions, the minister said.
“And then we had a coffee break and as always, during the coffee break, great ideas came up and then in the end, towards the end of the meeting, it was easier to come to the conclusion,” Haavisto said.
He recounted the same story to Spain’s El Mundo paper on Thursday, calling the coffee break “a turning point”Participated in discussions. They sipped their tea while the leaders listened. “found creative ideas and were able to amend the text to find a mutually satisfying solution,”The minister stated.
Coffee’s role as a unifying factor between Turkey and Finland turns out to be more than just a coincidence. The International Coffee Association claims that Finland is the country with the highest per capita coffee consumption. The Turks are also renowned coffee lovers, with their internationally popular ‘Turkish coffee’ – made in a special cezve pot using finely ground beans, without filtering.
Haavisto says that Turkey’s main problem in talks was to reach an agreement on definitions. “terrorism.”However, Ankara and Helsinki were the winners in the end. “could separate those issues in the statement and that actually (brought) us to the conclusion,”He stated.
One of the key promises made by the Nordic country to Turkey was to take action against any groups Ankara considers terrorist. “terrorists”Lifting an arms embargo
Recep Tayyip Turkey Erdogan, Turkish President warned Ankara that it will closely watch how Sweden and Finland keep their promises.
“The key thing is for promises to come true,” Erdogan insisted, adding that if it doesn’t happen the applications by Helsinki and Stockholm simply won’t be forwarded to the Turkish parliament for ratification.
Finland and Sweden, which remained out of NATO in the Cold War, joined the bloc May 18 jointly, citing their concerns about security following the Russian military incursion in Ukraine.
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