Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country will not support Swedenʼs and Finlandʼs accession to NATO. He accused these states of "supporting terrorism".
This was reported by Anadolu.
Erdogan confirmed that representatives of Finland and Sweden plan to visit Turkey and sent requests for a meeting.
"If they want to persuade us, let them not waste time," Erdogan said.
According to him, these countries do not have a "clear position on terrorism".
Erdogan opposes the accession of Finland and Sweden because of their support for the Kurds, a people who have settled in Turkey, Syria and Iraq and do not have their own state. In Turkey, Kurds are generally considered extremists and terrorists, and their organizations and parties are considered terrorists.
- On 15 May, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto announced that his country would formally apply to join NATO. The decision was supported by the government, and members of parliament also assured that they would vote for accession.
- Following in the footsteps of Finland, the Swedish government has also officially decided to apply for NATO membership.