Turkey confirms opposition to NATO membership for Sweden, Finland

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed Turkey’s opposition to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, shooting down a proposal by the Nordic countries to send delegations to Ankara to address the matter.

“We will not say ‘yes’ to those [countries] who apply sanctions to Turkey to join the security organization NATO,” Erdogan said at a news conference on Monday, referring to Sweden’s 2019 decision to suspend arms sales to Turkey over its military operation in neighboring Syria.

Turkey also accused the two bidding nations of harboring “terror” groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), blacklisted by Ankara, the European Union, and the United States.

“Neither of the countries has a clear stance against terror organizations,” Erdogan said. “How can we trust them?”

Justice ministry sources told the state news agency Anadolu on Monday that Sweden and Finland had failed to respond positively to Turkey’s 33 extradition requests over the past five years.

Ankara wanted individuals that are either accused of having links to the PKK and allied groups or of belonging to a movement blamed for the attempted overthrow of Erdogan in 2016, the agency reported.

Turkey has rebuked Stockholm especially for showing what it describes as leniency towards the PKK, which has waged an armed uprising against the Turkish state since 1984.

The Swedish foreign office said earlier on Monday that senior representatives of Sweden and Finland were planning to travel to Turkey for talks to address Ankara’s objections.

Erdogan reacted to the comments by saying: “Will they come to persuade us? Excuse us, but they shouldn’t bother”. He added that NATO would become “a place where representatives of terrorist organizations are concentrated” if the two countries join.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES