Erdogan: We will not approve Sweden and Finland join NATO

LAST UPDATE: 21:45

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will not approve Sweden and Finland joining NATO, according to Reuters.

He added that “the delegations of the two countries do not need to bother to come to Turkey to persuade Ankara to approve their demands for NATO membership.”

According to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, the Turkish president stressed that Turkey could not believe the assurances of Finland and Sweden that they would not support terrorists.

In a press conference, Erdogan called Sweden an “incubator” for terrorist organizations and added that they have terrorists in their parliament.

It is noted that Erdogan has called these two countries “hostels of terrorist organizations”.

Erdogan said NATO would become a “gathering place for representatives of terrorist organizations” if the two countries joined the Alliance.

Turkey has said it wanted the Nordic countries to stop supporting Kurdish fighters on their territory and lift bans on the sale of certain weapons to Turkey.

Turkish state media have reported separately that Sweden and Finland have rejected requests for the repatriation of 33 people whom Turkey claims have links to groups it considers terrorists.

Any decision on NATO enlargement requires the approval of all 30 members of the alliance and their parliaments. Diplomats say Erdogan will be pressured to step down, as Finland and Sweden will significantly strengthen NATO in the Baltic Sea.

In the meantime, it is recalled that yesterday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Turkey has made it clear that its intention is not to prevent Finland and Sweden from joining NATO. Regarding her concerns, the secretary general He stressed that he was confident that “we will be able to find an agreement on how to proceed on the issue of accession”.