Erdogan continues to reject Finland and Sweden joining NATO
Finland and Sweden want to join NATO – but the Turkish president is skeptical. Erdogan reiterated his negative stance. He tells the Finnish and Swedish delegates who want to go to Turkey: You do not have to worry.
D.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly criticized Finland and Sweden’s potential NATO members, despite efforts to reach an agreement on behalf of the security alliance. Erdogan said in Ankara on Monday that he could not agree with the annexation of countries that have imposed sanctions on Turkey. He reiterated that both countries support “terrorist organizations” such as the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had already criticized over the weekend that there were export restrictions on arms due to Turkey’s fighting against these groups and called for their removal. Sweden has not supplied any weapons to Turkey since 2019 due to Ankara’s military action in neighboring Syria.
Erdogan added that the visit of the Finnish and Swedish delegation to Turkey should not be a concern. “Will they come to appease us? If so, no offense, they should not be disturbed,” he said.
The Turkish president has already caused unrest in the coalition last week with negative statements about NATO access to Finland and Sweden. Several NATO countries, including Germany, have announced open support for Sweden and Finland’s merger plans. After a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin on Sunday, General Secretary of the Coalition Jens Stoltenberg said that Turkey had no intention of “blocking” the approval of Sweden and Finland.
Finland and Sweden must join in a unanimous vote of NATO and approval of the expansion of the coalition of parliaments of the existing 30 member states.
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