SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Turkey 'will not say yes' to NATO membership for Sweden, Finland: Erdogan
Istanbul, May 16 (AFP) May 16, 2022
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday confirmed Turkey's opposition to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, again accusing them of failing to take a clear stance against terrorism.

"We will not say 'yes' to those (countries) who apply sanctions to Turkey to join security organisation NATO," Erdogan said.

Sweden has suspended any arms sales to Turkey since 2019 over Ankara's military operation in neighbouring Syria.

Referring to the Swedish and Finnish delegations' intentions to meet with Turkish officials, Erdogan said: "They say they will come to Turkey on Monday. Will they come to persuade us? Excuse us, but they shouldn't bother."

The two Nordic countries have officially announced their intention to apply for NATO membership after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But Turkey has threatened to block the alliance's expansion, accusing them of harbouring terror groups including outlawed Kurdish militants, blacklisted by Ankara, the EU and the United States.

Any membership bid must be unanimously approved by NATO's 30 members.

"Neither of the countries have a clear stance against terror organisations," Erdogan said.

Sweden and Finland have failed to respond positively to Turkey's 33 extradition requests over the past five years, justice ministry sources told the official Anadolu news agency on Monday.

The agency reported Turkey wanted individuals that were either accused of having links to Kurdish militants or belonging to a movement blamed for the 2016 attempted overthrow of Erdogan.

Turkey has rebuked Stockholm especially for showing what it describes as leniency towards the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced confidence Sunday that Sweden and Finland would join NATO despite Turkey's voiced concerns.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will meet with Blinken in Washington on Wednesday, where Ankara's objections are expected to figure high on the agenda.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Voyager raises over 400 million in public debut to fuel growth and innovation
Kinetica 2 engine test hits milestone with successful multi-engine trial
Conservation leaders join passenger lineup for Blue Origin NS-33 suborbital launch

24/7 Energy News Coverage
AI-enabled control system helps autonomous drones stay on target in uncertain environments
Decarbonizing steel is as tough as steel
Molecular relay structure enables faster photon upconversion for solar and medical use

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
World faces new arms race as nuclear powers spend 100B a year
Australia says China anxiety, geography driving closer Indonesia ties
Iran's nuclear programme, Netanyahu's age-old obsession

24/7 News Coverage
Ancient climate shifts reveal warning signs for modern drought risks
Space lasers, AI used by geospatial scientist to measure forest biomass
Tiny organisms, huge implications for people



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.